The administrator crucified her, the net court buried her. Who will remove the gash that this administrative agent has seen fit to mark on Aniella Mukeshima’s forehead? Who will clean the stains with which the madmen of the keyboard have splashed it? We went to Kamaramagabo and saw how much human wickedness can hurt.
“We betrayed our grandfathers, we lost our reputation…”it was this tune by Leonard Niyomwungere who greeted us at the bar At Dosagi when we landed at Kamaramagambo, around 2:30 p.m. The gold rush has left its mark there: beautiful houses ”It was almost back” (which seem to be abandoned) covered with a reddish layer, well-stocked shops, bars without Brarudi products (to my great regret), but also affable and welcoming people. Women, beautiful women reserved for the Burundian.
It’s at the bar at Dosagi that I establish my HQ to launch the ”operations”. A friend of a friend recommended someone to me but his phone is ringing. I try another method: make eyes at the waitress, a little compliment, and voila we become best friends in the world. And without delay I launch the topic Kirungo. « Spice? He just finished washing. He ends up behind us, he has no alcohol, he is going home » (Kirungo? She has just closed. Her bar is just behind but she has no alcohol, she is going home. Editor’s note.) – Aaah! At least I know she didn’t leave following the avalanche of slander and mob that fell on her. I order a skewer and a juice to kill time.
Doubt, weariness, bitterness…
Ten minutes later, a man sipping a soda calls out to me: “You weren’t the one looking for Kirungo?” There she is, she just passed. I rack my brains quickly to imagine how to approach it. The soda man saves me the day: “I can introduce her to you. I am a former zone chief of Kamaramagambo”.
What a stroke of luck. Dieudonné, my new friend is already in Aniella’s little bar (I’m not going to use the disparaging nickname anymore). When I enter, the gentleman tells him that I want to talk to him. She looks at me of the gaze with great reluctance (the word is weak). Had it not been for Dieudonné’s charisma, she would have sent me away without further ado.. “I go to the organization, and we talk when I leave (I’m going to the association, we’ll talk later, editor’s note). And to show me a little notebook to prove to me that she’s not telling me nonsense. I still have time to see the doubt, the weariness, the bitterness…in the eyes of the young woman. Before disappearing, she takes the time to tell me that two paparazzi squatted her bar the day before all day but that she refused to speak to them. Two hours of hitting me with an adulterated petroleum-flavored liquor, and here it comes back to me.
“I regret being a Burundian”
“I was still in bed, we came home late at 4am because there were a lot of customers. Now a friend calls me around 9 a.m. to ask me if I knew what happened. I answer her no, and she sends me ”in box” the famous press release from admicom. I cried for 20 minutes before I exploded and screamed. The worker came from elsewhere to see what was happening to me. Since Wednesday I only ate today (Saturday). My lover works in Bujumbura and he had promised me funding so that I might develop my business. After the case broke, I no longer take his calls. I don’t know what to tell him. I regret being a Burundian, I regret being born in this country”.
She stops talking. I can not formulate another question, I am flabbergasted by this pain on edge.
The end of the interview
She resumes the discussion on her own: “I don’t think admicom is acting in bad faith. He doesn’t know me. He was misled by jealous women in my business. After the cancellation of the abusive measure, I would have liked to receive at least one phone call from him, to apologize. If there’s one thing I care regarding, it’s seeing those women who dirty me admit their wrong. Let them wash my honor publicly”.
Aniella suddenly seems lost in thought. Is she looking for her words? I don’t know. I dare not break the silence. « One head does not take counsel. Those who have something to help me, help me understand the behavior I have because I am overwhelmed” (I won’t be able to handle all of this on my own. I need help, it’s beyond my strength. Editor’s note), she finally admits with a sigh.
An hour later, while we are in the middle of an interview, a doctored photo showing her naked on the upper part of her body falls into her box. She consults her phone, silent, hands it over to show me, then bursts into tears. I end the interview.
It’s Easter Day, we take a walk through the streets of Kamagamagabo to understand the end of this story. Everyone is at Mass. We post ourselves outside the church on the lookout for local men and women. AG is an innkeeper. It is he who puts us in the scent. In fact, he says, Aniella was having a drink with DN when his wife showed up. A fight ensued, but the gentleman had already slipped away. DN’s wife who suspected him of having a relationship with Aniella then went to round up her girlfriends and called the administrator. The rest we know.
PN is one of the elected officials, we picked him up following mass. “She was just sharing a drink, nothing more. It is incomprehensible the development that this affair has taken. The administrator was misled by this woman who called him on the phone. He should have called Aniella to listen to her and this affair would not have caused so much noise..
Adelaïde Muhimpundu, head of community animators (abaremeshakiyago) in Kamaragamagambo, also finds that Aniella has done nothing to deserve such a media lynching. She only regrets the fact that she is being pressured for speaking out and defending Aniella in the media.
To see the media frenzy that took ”the Kirungo case”and following listening to the locals, we want to say ” All that for this ? »
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