Two local CSOs against results of 5th dialogue session

In a joint statement issued on November 6, CAPES and PISC Burundi local NGOs have said the office of the facilitator in the Inter-Burundian dialogue has failed. Hamza Venant Burikukiye, chairman of CAPES+ says the results of the 5th round of the Inter-Burundian dialogue bring no added value to Burundians.

Venant Hamza Burikukiye: “The office of the facilitation has failed.”

“Participants came from one side which is unable to bring peace to Burundians alone,” he says adding that the same group also includes people who didn’t take part in the previous consultations but attended the last dialogue session, according to the facilitator. For him, the office of the facilitation would also consider the views of the Burundian government and the civil society organizations as well.

Burikukiye also says the East African Community has the duty to respect each partner state as a sovereign nation.. “Burundians should not be disturbed by the dialogue sessions. They should rather prepare for the 2020 elections,” he says.

Gabriel Rufyiri, chairman of OLUCOME, a local corruption watchdog, says the UN, AU, EU and EAC must take all possible measures to convince all protagonists in Burundi crisis to attend the dialogue session for the good of the Burundian population. “They should impose sanctions on the recalcitrant and follow closely the socio-economic situation in Burundi in order to find solutions,” reads a statement issued by OLUCOME few days after the end of 5th round of the inter-Burundian dialogue.
For Gabriel Rufyiri, the East African Community should convene an emergency summit to elaborate strategies and measures convincing Bujumbura and all stakeholders in the Burundian crisis to attend the dialogue session.

At the end of 5th session of the Inter-Burundian dialogue on 29 October, William Benjamin Mkapa, facilitator in the Inter-Burundian Dialogue said the 5th round was the last session organized by his office. The latter will assess the Kayanza and Entebbe roadmaps as well as the crisis resolution proposal and then submit them to the mediator. The summit of EAC Heads of State will therefore rule on the roadmap and decide whether the facilitator can continue his activities or not.