The images coming out of Burundi are very worrying. At a time when the whole world is under lockdown and social distancing is the key word, in Burundi they have thrown all caution to the air and it might come to haunt the region in future. In Burundi it is business as usual as the country embarks on presidential campaigns. The ruling party inaugural meeting attracted thousands, which itself was not a surprise, but to see tens of thousands packed together like sardines, the leadership included, is enough to wonder whether we are reading from the same script on the dangers of COVID-19. Well, that is up to them, ours is to increase vigilance to keep those within our borders safe and ease the burdens caused by the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown that has drastically disrupted many people’s way of life. To cushion the people from economic hardships, the first thing the government announced after the lockdown was the creation of a Rwf 50 billion fund to guarantee banks’ liquidity. The latter have not had the need to resort to the generous lifeline because previous policies such as the reduction of commercial banks’ reserves requirement ration from 5 to 4 per cent are doing the trick. Anyway, containing and managing the fallout from COVID-19 was not all about the economy, but social wellbeing is also being taken care of in tandem with containing the spread of the virus. The latest in a string of social protection measures was announced by Gasabo District. At a time when public transport has been grounded, the district leadership has instructed Sector Executive Secretaries to see that vehicles for anyone needing to go to hospital. Now, that is what leadership is all about and districts need to emulate each other’s best practices.
