In a direct letter that the Ugandan President sent to his Burundian counterpart, he judges incorrect the way Bujumbura imposes itself both as the judge and jury in the crisis that Burundi has been going through.
Museveni asks President Nkurunziza not to keep away the EAC in the management of the crisis.
“M7, as he is often called, took his time. In a long letter of five pages, Museveni makes a real indictment on the behavior of his Burundian counterpart.
The boss of the East African Community raises his voice thereby and makes himself a sermonizer. The Ugandan President, as if to say to President Nkurunziza to be more modest, told him bluntly : ” Your rebel movement did not besiege the country “. In less diplomatic terms, ” You did not win the war”. Museveni recalls then all the efforts of the East African Community in the settlement of the Burundian conflict, which led to the signing of the Arusha Agreement.
The Ugandan President knows that the credibility of the EAC is at stake if ever the Arusha Agreement is completely violated. ” If that happens, who will take the guarantees of the region seriously in the future?” he asks.
Mr Museveni also gives a lesson of strategy to the Burundian president who refuses” to sit down with the coup plotters “. Yes, says the Ugandan President, sitting with coup-makers is possible and necessary. ” You have to fight when necessary and negotiate when necessary “.
It is a real change of tone from the mediator which is probably the result of several kinds of humiliations.
Bujumbura boycotted the 5th round of the dialogue in October. Facilitator Benjamin Mkapa was left sheepish and defeated.
A month later, Bujumbura declined again the invitation of the EAC boss to the summit of Heads of State of the sub-region. The presidents of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda went to Arusha. In the absence of a quorum, the summit is canceled.
In the correspondence that President Nkurunziza sent to him, he protested against the report of the facilitator Mkapa who believes that the situation in Burundi remains “a matter of concern”. The Tanzanian President even requested the intervention of an external force to secure the next elections. In this report, Bujumbura is considered as the one that refuses to sit with the real protagonists. “Unacceptable for Bujumbura”.
In his long letter, the Ugandan president affirms his willingness to take control, on behalf of the entire community. He asks President Nkurunziza not to keep away the EAC in the management of the crisis. Mr Museveni does not accept that his Burundian counterpart decide on with whom to negotiate. Museveni , as if to encourage him, speaks about his own experience, his negotiation with his opponents guilty of serious crimes (he cites Joseph Kony in particular).
As a diplomat, Mr Museveni, however, reaches out to President Nkurunziza. He gives him an appointment on December 27th, at the next summit. He promises that the issues raised by Bujumbura will be tackled on this occasion.
Rwanda, enemy of Burundi
President Nkurunziza put the Rwandan-Burundian conflict on the table. In his correspondence to the Chairman of the EAC on December 4, he called for an extraordinary summit to resolve this dispute.
President Paul Kagame : “As long as the red line is not overstepped, we will not intervene.”
President NKurunziza demands that the summit discuss the Burundi-Rwanda conflict without hypocrisy. The conflict between Burundi and Rwanda is serious. If it is true that the case was on the agenda in the failed summit of November 30, the Burundian President believes that this is not enough. For him, the conflict deserves a special summit. He poses this condition before another summit takes place with other points to address.
It must be said that the relations between Bujumbura and its neighbor on the side of Kanyaru have deteriorated since 2015. The Burundian President is clear in his letter and points at his enemy : Rwanda.
He accuses Rwanda of having supported and organized the failed coup of May 11, 2015. According to him, this country has fueled the crisis by recruiting Burundian refugees in Mahama camp for a paramilitary training to destabilize the country, what Rwanda has always denied.
After the announcement of President Nkurunziza, the population was called on to hold demonstrations which were organized throughout the country. The target was to decry the country of Paul Kagame, the enemy and the destabilizer.
Whether it was coincidence or not, the Rwandan President appeared in military uniform for the first time in 18 years, at the end of military training at Gabiro Combat Training Center. It was all symbolic.
Paul Kagame warned : “He who will try to attack us will not return to the place from where he came. It’s impossible. We will keep him here, alive or dead. Our army does not have the culture of provocation. As long as the red line is not overstepped, we do not intervene. We are waiting for them at home.”
That speech came after the recent statements of President Pierre Nkurunziza. Some people think it’s a response to the Burundian president.
Will Pierre Nkurunziza attend the next summit or not?
Obviously, the special summit urgently requested by the Head of State will have to wait for that of December 27. The president of the East African Community, however, said the Burundi-Rwanda case deserves attention from the region. According to Yoweri Museveni, the security and stability of the EAC condition the development of the Common Market.
The big question now is whether or not President Nkurunziza will attend the next summit. He has a bad memory of the EAC summit he last attended. A coup d’état was staged while he was outside the country. Since then, he hasn’t gone out of the country anymore, except perhaps to meet the Tanzanian President, a few kilometers from the border.
The other question is whether President Nkurunziza lost completely support from his counterparts from the sub- region.
Won’t his intransigence risk radicalizing these Heads of State of the East African Community? ? Isn’t this epistolary war between the two leaders just the beginning of a situation that would deteriorate any time now? New developments are expected.
In any case, if Bujumbura loses the support from the sub-region, the risk of finding itself isolated is getting greater.
Written by Agnès Ndirubusa and translated by
Pierre Emmanuel Ngendakumana
IWACU Open Data
