Burundi banks on ‘divine protection’ despite coronavirus threat

Gitega, Burundi – Burundi has recorded its first COVID-19 death, after a total of five people contracted the virus in the country. But unlike many countries across Africa, there are no restrictions on movement in place. Authorities are citing divine protection despite having been infected barely a week ago.

President Pierre Nkurunziza’s spokesperson recently said, “Burundi is an exception because it is a country that has put God first.” As a result, there is growing concern that Burundi authorities risk putting people in grave danger by taking solace in divine protection alone.

A government statement dated March 25, 2020, reiterated that “only the grace of God has protected Burundi” from COVID-19, and threatened those who take preventive measures ahead of the government.

General Evariste Ndayishimiye, the ruling party’s presidential candidate in the May 20 elections is quoted to have said: “Do not be afraid. God loves Burundi, and if there are people who have tested positive, it is so that God may manifest his power in Burundi.”

At a market in Bujumbura, the former capital of the tiny East African nation, life seems to go on as usual despite the threat of the virus. It’s business as usual as Burundians refuse to be idle.

But the ordinary citizen is ware of preventive measures amid the divine trust: “We are told that we must wash our hands to protect ourselves and our customers, but it is God who protects the most,” a driver Fidele Bideyi told the press.

For other residents a local proverb that says ‘‘heaven helps those who help themselves’‘ is even more important in a time like this.

Bideyi explains, “We pray and believe in God but you know that the Burundian proverb says that God helps the one who helps himself, it is true that we know that God is the Almighty, but no one can just neglect and say that God will spare him from this coronavirus.”