Pierre Nkurunziza 4th term would intensify violence in Burundi, UNSG worries

UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, presented a report on 23 February to the UNSC. He expressed his concern about the willingness of Burundian President to run for a 4th term that would risk intensifying violence in Burundi and undermining collective efforts towards a lasting solution.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is concerned about the recent remarks by Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza about the possibility of running for a fourth term, according to the UNSC report received by AFP. Pierre Nkurunziza announced at the end of December 2016 that he could again run in 2020 presidential elections, “if the people request it.”

Albert Shingiro, Burundi’s Ambassador to the UN says the report by UNSG is biased. He says that its writing has been influenced by the desire for revenge of Jamal Benomar, Special Adviser to the UN SG on Burundi conflict resolution.
Ambassador Shingiro formally addressed a letter on 21 February to the new UNSG, Antonio Guterres, asking him to replace the UN Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on conflict resolution in Burundi.

According to AFP, Ambassador Shingiro said he was amazed that the UNSG is concerned about the number of Burundian presidential terms. According to this diplomat, other presidents in Africa and elsewhere are running for consecutive presidential terms, why is he interested in the Burundi case?

The UNSG is not wrong to think Nkurunziza wants to run for a fourth term

Tatien Sibomana, member of the opposition party UPRONA, the wing not recognized by the Government says the report that reveals a possible 4th term of Pierre Nkurunziza is founded. Sibomana says that at the public conference held in December 2016 in southern Rutana Province, Nkurunziza insinuated that if the Burundian people will demand him to run for a fourth term, he will respond favorably to their request. Given the precedents of 2015, any person who closely follows Burundi situation felt that he was beginning to announce his ambition to run for the fourth term.
“Even in 2015, he said that it was the people of Burundi and his party that he asked him to run for the controversial third term in violation of the Arusha Peace Agreement and the Constitution,” Sibomana says.

The violence triggered in April 2015 by President Nkurunziza’s decision to run for a third term led to several hundred deaths. Nearly 390,000 inhabitants fled the country. This figure is expected to exceed 500,000 by 2017, according to the UN.