Protesters run across a fire towards police lines in the Musaga
neighbourhood of Bujumbura, Burundi, on May 4, 2015. East African Heads
of State will meet in Dar es Salaam next week, on May 13, over the
political crisis in Burundi, Tanzania’s foreign minister announced here
on Wednesday evening. AFP PHOTO | PHIL MOORE
BUJUMBURA
East African Heads
of State will meet in Dar es Salaam next week, on May 13, over the
political crisis in Burundi, Tanzania’s foreign minister announced here
on Wednesday evening.
Mr Bernard Membe and his
counterparts Louise Mushikiwabo (Rwanda) and Kenya’s Amina Mohamed made
the announcement while meeting politicians opposed to Mr Nkurunziza
seeking a third term in office.
Uganda was represented by its ambassador to Burundi, Major-General Matayo Kyaligonza.
The
Heads of State will be trying their own hand at peace-making, after a
week of silence and watching the international community try and fail to
resolve the political stand-off
More than 10
people have been killed since the anti-third term protests broke out
last Sunday and the number of people fleeing into neighbouring countries
has risen to over 30,000, according to aid agencies, most of them into
Rwanda.
“We dislike violence and when there is violence anywhere or indicators of violence, the leaders have a duty to meet and resolve that violence,” Mr Membe told opposition politicians at a hotel in Bujumbura, after delivering a similar message to President Nkurunziza at State House.
Tanzania’s President Jakaya Kikwete, who is the current chairperson of the East African Community, sent the foreign ministers to Burundi on a fact-finding mission and to find ways in which the region can help the EAC member state from sliding into further unrest.
“We dislike violence and when there is violence anywhere or indicators of violence, the leaders have a duty to meet and resolve that violence,” Mr Membe told opposition politicians at a hotel in Bujumbura, after delivering a similar message to President Nkurunziza at State House.
Tanzania’s President Jakaya Kikwete, who is the current chairperson of the East African Community, sent the foreign ministers to Burundi on a fact-finding mission and to find ways in which the region can help the EAC member state from sliding into further unrest.
RUN FOR RE-ELECTION
The country’s constitutional court ruled on Tuesday that Mr Nkurunziza is free to run for re-election, a position rivals say violates the country’s constitution which imposes a two-term limit on the presidency, and the Arusha agreement which ended more than a decade of civil war in the country in which an estimated 130,000 people were killed.
Protestors, opposition politicians and the United Kingdom government have all rejected the court ruling, which was overshadowed by revelations by the court’s vice president that he had fled into exile after coming under pressure, including death threats to approve Mr Nkurunziza’s candidature.
At least 16 people were injured in fresh protests on Wednesday, according to the Red Cross as police fired tear gas and live bullets to break up barricades and protest marches.
“What we want is President Nkurunziza to respect the Arusha Accord that brought peace to our country,” a protestor in Kibenga, a suburb of the capital, Bujumbura, said, as he fled from a police onslaught.
Explosions were heard on Wednesday morning in Kanyosha, another city suburb, but it was not immediately clear what caused them and who was responsible for them.
The country’s constitutional court ruled on Tuesday that Mr Nkurunziza is free to run for re-election, a position rivals say violates the country’s constitution which imposes a two-term limit on the presidency, and the Arusha agreement which ended more than a decade of civil war in the country in which an estimated 130,000 people were killed.
Protestors, opposition politicians and the United Kingdom government have all rejected the court ruling, which was overshadowed by revelations by the court’s vice president that he had fled into exile after coming under pressure, including death threats to approve Mr Nkurunziza’s candidature.
At least 16 people were injured in fresh protests on Wednesday, according to the Red Cross as police fired tear gas and live bullets to break up barricades and protest marches.
“What we want is President Nkurunziza to respect the Arusha Accord that brought peace to our country,” a protestor in Kibenga, a suburb of the capital, Bujumbura, said, as he fled from a police onslaught.
Explosions were heard on Wednesday morning in Kanyosha, another city suburb, but it was not immediately clear what caused them and who was responsible for them.
Mr Membe
told opposition politicians that the team of ministers had been sent to
establish whether, in the aftermath of the court ruling, a peaceful,
credible, free and fair election could be held in the country.
“In posing those problems and seeking answers, we are cognisant of the fact that Burundi is a sovereign state,” he said. “It is neither the intention of Tanzania or any EAC member state to intervene in the internal affairs of Burundi.”
“In posing those problems and seeking answers, we are cognisant of the fact that Burundi is a sovereign state,” he said. “It is neither the intention of Tanzania or any EAC member state to intervene in the internal affairs of Burundi.”
SLOW RESPONSE
EAC member states have been criticised for a slow response to the crisis in Burundi. Rwanda’s statement on Tuesday, in which it expressed concern about the insecurity and its potential spill over impact, was the first public comment on the matter by a member state of the regional grouping.
President Kikwete’s decision to send a ministerial delegation, however, has now put the EAC at the heart of the effort to negotiate a solution to the crisis. A two-day meeting called by donors between the rival parties was called off on Wednesday, its last scheduled day, to allow the parties meet the EAC ministers.
Additional reporting by Moses Havyarimana in Bujumbura
EAC member states have been criticised for a slow response to the crisis in Burundi. Rwanda’s statement on Tuesday, in which it expressed concern about the insecurity and its potential spill over impact, was the first public comment on the matter by a member state of the regional grouping.
President Kikwete’s decision to send a ministerial delegation, however, has now put the EAC at the heart of the effort to negotiate a solution to the crisis. A two-day meeting called by donors between the rival parties was called off on Wednesday, its last scheduled day, to allow the parties meet the EAC ministers.
Additional reporting by Moses Havyarimana in Bujumbura
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