Burundi parliament member Liberate Nicayenzi has blamed the local government and the governer of Kirundo province for the September 16 burning of the homes of 50 Batwa and some Hutu families at the Busoni Commune. In response to Nicayanzi's allegations, the local government of Kirundo province justified the attack by explaining that the Batwa had built their homes on natural reserve land. Nicayenzi told IRIN News that former President Pierre Buyoya granted the commune lands to the Batwa in 1998. The government said that the Batwa had been given multiple warnings to move to designated plots outside of Busoni before the burnings, but Nicayanzi said that the designated plots were on a former mining site unsuitable for habitation. She said the victims of the blaze had been waiting for the administration to give them alternative plots.
