Wealthy Burundian businessman murdered in Bujumbura

14 Mai 2020

Bujumbura, Burundi, May 14  (Infosplusgabon) - The lifeless body of a wealthy Burundian businessman, Jackson Simbananiye Kirahwata, was discovered on Thursday morning lying in a gutter in downtown Bujumbura, shortly after being abducted by unknown men, a family source in Burundi's economic capital said.

The businessman is known for his successes in the foreign exchange market in Bujumbura.

The highly reputed competitive foreign exchange market has recorded three unsolved murders since the beginning of this year in Bujumbura.

The national police announced the opening of an investigation to clarify the circumstances and motive for the new assassination in this business environment.

Currency, traders had gone on the rampage since a recent decision by the central bank to close all private exchange offices.

At the place, commonly known as the "Preferential Exchange Zone" in downtown Bujumbura, the police officers were on the lookout to discourage violators of the new regulations.

Only the counters of commercial banks are authorized to carry out the manual exchange, again justified by emergencies, between the Burundian franc and foreign currencies, mainly the US dollar and the euro.

In Burundi, tension over foreign currencies is still heightened by the financial sanctions imposed by the international community as a result of the 2015 electoral and human rights crisis.

As another sign of the currency crisis in the country, travelers are required to declare foreign currency amounts held in cash in excess of US$ 10,000 or the equivalent in another currency.

In addition, authorized cash payments for imports have increased from US$40,000 to US$5,000.

The allowance on electronic bank cards must not exceed an amount of US$10,000.

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/SDC/GABON2020

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