BUJUMBURA, March 28th (ABP) – The movement of children collecting and selling iron building materials is a reality. That is what ABP found during its visit to some of the outlying districts of Bujumbura Mayorship halon Monday 24 March 2025.
In the Kinama and Kamenge neighbourhoods, for example, many children are roaming the streets, rummaging through discarded iron in gutters and other places, looking for something to live on.
Some of them are school-age, aged 8 and over. They are most likely to be found on rubbish tips. Generally, they collect used spare parts, nails, pieces of worn sheet metal, etc. Some have even dropped out of school. Some have even given up school for money: “We don’t know exactly how many there are. We don’t know exactly how many people there are, but the numbers are increasing because of the rise in the price of these metals,” said one metal buyer.
Some parents interviewed on the spot lament the fact that their children have dropped out of school and are absent from home in search of these worn-out objects. Parents may even be called by security guards to report cases of theft committed by their children.
Parents are urging the government to set up legally recognised agents to collect and sell these metals, but not children, in order to avoid the disorder causing juvenile delinquency.