Six girls from Mugoyi basic school in Kabarore commune of Kayanza province “would have been poisoned by one of their classmates”, reported a local medium on Monday, February 27. We went to the scene and met these six girls, their school director, the communal director of education in Kabarore, and many others to shed light on this case.
“Six girls from the Mugoyi basic school in Kabore commune have been hospitalized in Rwegura since Friday. According to the information that comes to us from Mugoyi (Kabarore commune, Kayanza province)confirmed by the director of the school, the six girls would have been poisoned by one of their classmates”. If this information broadcast by Radio-Television Isanganiro tries to offer some answers, however there are still many questions: who are these young girls? How would they have been poisoned? By who ? Where did they get treatment? And more importantly: is this really a case of poisoning as is in vogue in Burundi (read the file « sorry ») ?
It is this kind of answers that we sought to have, guided by a former fellow student from Rwegura and another from Kabarore with whom we shared cassava paste in a boarding school located on one of these many hills of Kayanza .
This Tuesday, we are therefore embarking for the Kayanza province, with Mugoyi as our final destination. First stopover in Kayanza commune. A storm and an icy cold welcome us. We miss the warmth of Buja-la-belle, located more than 100 km away. We spend, in spite of ourselves, the night there, following having contacted our driver.
Yves*, our driver, arrives around 8 am at our meeting place. We get to know each other and we all realize that we went to the same school. On his motorcycle, so as not to be bored because of the journey, stories from our old school occupy us: such a teacher who was hard on the students, these supervisors who made life hard for us, because, “this is how we educate” and “Later, we will come back to thank them”. Neither of us has done it yet.
Mugoyi is located regarding forty kilometers from Kayanza commune. Before getting there, we have to brave the relief of the Kabarore commune. Yves* masters his bike. He reassures: “I know Kabarore like the back of my hand.” And road…
Law enforcement got involved
We first disembark at the offices of the Kabarore commune. We have received information that a judicial police officer (OPJ) has taken care of the case. We then ask to meet him. We are put in contact with the OPJ which is present in the Kabarore commune. “Ah. Me, I’m new. I did not work on this case,” replies the latter. But he leads us to the office of the communal commissioner. He, too, guides us to another person: “This case is in the hands of the prosecutor in Kayanza. For more details, you have to go to Mugoyi”.
With Yves*, here we are once more on the roads of Kabarore. After more than thirty minutes to survey the infernal relief of this town, the guide who also serves as our driver launches us: « Where Ecofo Mugoyi is there » (Mugoyi Basic School is located there). An appointment is already fixed with the director of this school.
“I mightn’t handle this case alone”
Jean Baptiste Bucumi, the director, is waiting for us in his office. Books covered in a thin layer of dust mingle with new ones. On this matter, here is what he says: “We became aware of these cases on Monday, February 20, 2023. Six girls in grade 9 came to tell me that one of their classmates poisoned them. It really started on February 8, 2023. Grade 9 students had to take a municipal test that day to prepare for the national competition. This is how the one suspected of having poisoned the six girls gave boiled corn. The next day, one of the six girls started having a stomach ache. Her parents decided to do a traditional diagnosis to check if she was not poisoned. The diagnosis revealed, according to the girl, a case of poisoning”, testifies the director of this Ecofo. He keeps on : “She asked if the other five girls had had the same symptoms and it turns out that they too were in the same condition.”
On February 20, 2023, the six young girls came to denounce the classmate who offered them corn. And the director of the school, Mr. Jean Baptiste Bucumi decided to call the parents of the young girl suspected of being the poisoner and those of the six girls. Jean Baptiste Bucumi listened to both parties and finally decided to call the municipal director of education (DCE). “I mightn’t handle this case alone,” admits Jean Baptiste Bucumi. “The DCE came with the police and they questioned the family of the young girl suspected of having poisoned her classmates. Although the latter assured to be innocent, she agreed to pay the medical expenses if and only if the 6 girls were really poisoned. And they were taken to the health center in Rwegura”adds the director of the basic school Mugoyi.
“She gave us corn, but she didn’t touch any”
Jean Baptiste Bucumi decides to call the six young girls supposedly poisoned victims so that we can discuss. All six enter his small office. Rania*, Ladouce* are both 19 years old. Claudia* is 18 years old, while Fiona* and Yvonne are 17 years old. They are all in the 9th year of secondary school.
Rania* testifies first: “It’s true that Pierrette (nickname of the girl suspected of poisoning) gave us some boiled maize, but she didn’t touch it. “It was following a day that we started to feel pain. As it was only six of us who ate Pierrette*’s corn, we decided to check if we hadn’t been poisoned.” adds Ladouce*. Was it you who asked Pierrette* to give you that corn? « Non », responds one of the girls. “I did it…following another classmate of Pierrette* asked her the day before the communal test to bring her some boiled corn”.
Pierrette* did bring the corn, but she didn’t give it to the woman who asked for it. We ask the manager to call the one who asked Pierrette for the corn. “Yes, I asked her, but she didn’t give it to me the day she brought it,” confirms the girl.
Later, we manage to discuss with the director of education in Kabarore commune, Jean Paul Nzohabonayo, who has also followed this case. He does not refute what the principal of the Mugoyi basic school said. He adds : “The older brother of the girl suspected of poisoning her classmates has agreed to pay the charges if it is really a case of poisoning. In Rwegura, the young girls were confirmed to be unwell. I’m not saying they were poisoned, but this center hospitalized the young girls. The big brother also paid an advance of 60,000 BIF”.
With Yves*, we decide to go to Rwegura, to the health center which treated the supposed victims. The journey is so difficult that I have to get off the bike to let Yves* cross certain bridges or go down certain slopes. After this obstacle course, we arrive at Rwegura.
“We don’t care sorry ici »
When I join the director in charge of the health center to ask for a meeting, she answers me: “We do not have permission to respond to interviews.” For your information, the health center is in the hands of the nuns. It is recognized as a specialist in the care of ” those who have been poisoned”. On my way there, I approach two men and I ask them: “This is where we treat sorry ?». Both respond with a « Oui ».
I call once once more the director of the health center to ask for an appointment. Faced with my insistence, she manages to answer me a little on the phone: “We of course welcomed the young girls. But we treated them as modern medicine demands of us. But, understand one thing, we don’t care sorry ici ».
I remember then that the six girls also told me that they received injections as soon as they arrived at the health centre. And “white pills that give sleep”.
Were they really poisoned by their classmate, all six affirm that they were poisoned. The director of Ecofo Mugoyi whispered to me during our meeting that “This girl comes from a family which is suspected by those around her of giving sorry ». Could this be one of the reasons which lead the six young girls to affirm that they were poisoned?
Pierrette* no longer goes to school…
This accusation of poisoning has serious consequences for the young girl: “She refuses to come back to school. She says she’s being accused of a crime she didn’t commit.” says one of the girls in her class.
The director of the Mugoyi basic school assures us that he is doing everything possible to get Pierrette back to school, because he did not send her away. But at the time when we publish this investigation, the young girl has still not returned to school.
Contacted, the public prosecutor in Kayanza did not wish to comment on this case for the moment: “We cannot give information on a file which is still in the hands of justice. »
To be continued…
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