Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation minister Bernard Membe
(left) briefs journalists on the opening on the summit of East African
Community (EAC) leaders on the Burundi stalemate in Dar es Salaam
yesterday. With him is EAC Secretary General Richard Sezibera. PHOTO |
SAID KHAMIS
By By Katare Mbashiru The Citizen Reporter
In Summary
Dar es Salaam. East African Community leaders
meet in Dar es Salaam today for the second time to discuss Burundi’s
deepening political impasse that has forced thousands of civilians to
flee the country.
The EAC leaders will meet to try and find a lasting solution for the political turmoil that has engulfed the tiny nation.
Yesterday, EAC ministers for Foreign Affairs and
those of the East African Cooperation dockets convened in Dar es Salaam
to give their deliberations that will be presented before the regional
leaders today.
Burundi has been thrown into a political crisis
following growing opposition to an attempt by President Pierre
Nkurunziza to run for a third term in office.
Today, all eyes and ears will be directed to the
outcome of EAC leaders extraordinary summit. However, it is still
unclear if President Nkurunziza will attend the meeting.
Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation
minister Bernard Membe told a news conference on Monday evening that all
the five presidents would attend and that they would look on how to
solve the escalating crisis and how to help refugees and guarantee
security to Burundians.
According to Mr Membe, the EAC ministers discussed
the report submitted by a team of lawyers that was sent to Burundi to
study a court ruling that gave a green light to President Nkurunziza to
seek for re-election.
Earlier this month, Burundi’s constitutional court cleared President Nkurunziza to run for a controversial third term.
In their first meeting in Dar es Salaam on May 13
initiated by Summit Chairman President Jakaya Kikwete, the Heads of
State decided that a team of lawyers be sent to Bujumbura to look if the
court ruling was proper. The team was led by former Tanzanian Prime
Minister Judge (rtd) Joseph Warioba.
The Burundi constitutional court ruled that the
president’s bid to stand for another term “by direct universal suffrage
for five years, was not contrary to the constitution of Burundi”.
The second EAC Heads of State extraordinary summit
comes at the time when the European Union (EU) has already declared
that it had suspended its Election Observation Mission (EOM) in Burundi,
which aimed at contributing to a transparent, peaceful, credible and
fair process that would give confidence to the political actors and
electorate, and ensure acceptance of the outcome.
The EOM was led by the chief observer David Martin, a Member of the European Parliament.
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