Mwogere River


The Mwogere River is a river in Kayanza Province, Burundi, a right tributary of the Akanyaru River.

Course

The Mwogere River flows through the Commune of Kabarore in the north of Kayanza Province, which is in the north of Burundi.
The Mwogere, or Umwogere, rises in Rwanda to the east of Remera and to the east and south of the NR9 highway.
It enters Burundi north of the Buvumo colline, and flows southeast along the border.
It runs along the border north of the Rusagara and Kidunduri collines, leaves the border at an elevation of and turns south and then west past the south of the Munege colline.
The Mwogere is joined by the Nyakavuvu from the left at, then by the Nayandara from the right at in an area of marshes.
It turns north and flows between the Ryamukona colline to the west and the Runyinya colline to the east to join the Kanyaru at.

Environment

The surroundings of the Mwogere River are a mosaic of farmland and natural vegetation.
The area is densely populated, with 476 inhabitants per square kilometer.
The average annual temperature in the area is.
The warmest month is August, when the average temperature is, and the coldest is April, with.
Average annual rainfall is.
The wettest month is March, with an average of of precipitation, and the driest is July, with of precipitation.

Mining

There are coltan deposits in the Ryamukona colline, near the river's mouth, which attract artisanal miners.
The waste water from coltan mining is dumped into the river.
It contains coltan, which is extracted from the river, causing large disturbances in the river's bed and flow.
In January 2017 of coltan were seized in Kiziba, Kabarore commune.
One Burundian and eleven Rwandans were arrested as they were getting ready to cross the Mwogere River border on the way to Gisenyi, Nyaruguru district in Rwanda.

Hydroelectricity

The hydroelectric potential of the river was evaluated in 2017 in the Ryamukona colline.
There would be demand for electricity from small businesses serving the miners, and from public infrastructure in the collines along the river such as primary schools and health centers.
The nominal measured flow rate was and the hydroelectric potential is about 82kW.
In July 2018 the national development plan included developing a 700kW micropower plants on the Mwogere.
In 2021 the Kayanza Province was planning to construct a micro hydroelectric power station on the Mwogere River in Kabarore commune.