Burundi clubbers party after curfew ends

BUJUMBURA, May 16 (Reuters) ''Drink, drink, drink for today is a happy day,'' the ancient Kirundi wedding song says.

Mixed with new beats, the tune now thumps out as revellers gyrate on the dance floor at Bujumbura's La Rochelle nightclub.

Young Burundians say it was a happy day last month when the government ended a 13-year midnight-to-dawn curfew -- one of the first tangible signs of peace returning to the tiny central African nation after a devastating civil war.

''Before there was no freedom. Now we can enjoy 100 per cent as opposed to only 20 per cent,'' 38-year-old Robert Nsengiyunva shouts over his shoulder before plunging back into a crowd of dancers under the club's strobe lights.

More than 300,000 people were killed in 12 years of ethnic violence, sparked in 1993 after Tutsi soldiers assassinated the first elected Hutu president, Melchior Ndadaye.

Hutu rebels fought a Tutsi-dominated army from hideouts in the hills overlooking the capital Bujumbura, and for years their raids brought them into the suburbs making the city one of the continent's most dangerous.

But life is getting better in the city, which commands stunning views over Lake Tanganyika to the mountains of Congo.

Former Hutu rebel leader Pierre Nkurunziza was sworn in as president of an ethnically-mixed government nine months ago, as part of a lengthy UN-backed peace plan to end the war.

He has pledged to disarm the remaining rebels and develop his traumatised nation into an example of how Africa can solve its own problems.

Lifting the curfew was just the latest sign of his work to convince donors and investors he can maintain stability.

Some Burundians feared the move might create more crime. But residents say more police now patrol in the early hours.

The gendarmes and soldiers were famous for soliciting bribes from curfew violators.

For years, the curfew meant clubbers faced a dilemma each time midnight neared: party hard, or go home.

If you opted to stay, you were locked in the club until dawn, although in reality most people could get past patrols with a bribe -- the equivalent of 5 dollar for Burundians, or about double that for foreigners.

''The curfew was a human rights violation,'' says one Burundian reveller before stumbling back to the bar.

In a city already renowned for having some of central Africa's best restaurants, the end of the curfew is expected to give a big boost to the rest of the nightlife industry.

In the past, competition between nightclub owners was all about getting permits from authorities to stay open at night but now they need to lure customers by offering the best atmosphere, Mambo club manager Jean Paul Rugambarara said.

''Now people stay not because of curfew, but because of services,'' he said.

Despite the many advantages for the nightclubs of the lifting of the curfew, it is not all good news. Rugambarara admitted alcohol sales had dropped at his club because the drinkers were not staying until the morning anymore.

Propping up the bar across town at La Rochelle, Nsengiyunva orders another beer to toast the lifting of the curfew, but says he still fears for the future.

Until the last of the Hutu rebels still fighting -- members of the Forces for National Liberation -- are defeated or lay down their arms, the good times remain at risk.

''We are not sure if it will last,'' he says with a shrug.

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