I find the East African newspaper article, very good on the internal environment of Burundi’s problem. In analyzing the internal environment of the ” crisis” in Burundi, the article mentions a crucial point ” in passing”; basically, the people or groups that are opposed to Nkurunziza now are the same people or groups that boycotted elections in 2010. The same groups resorted to riots, then, but were defeated. The same groups and people who boycotted the 2010 elections boycotted the 2005 Burundi Constitution making process and elections that followed. It’s imperative to understand the reason(s) for these groups’ spontaneous act; to “boycott”! Without appreciating this ” history” and causes, one would be a fool to think of a solution to the current problem.
The piece does not talk about the mysterious rebels that attacked Burundi through DRC long before the ruling party decided to present Nkurunziza as a candidate. Was it a coincidence that those “rebels” attacked that time or it’s a continuum of ” rebels” from the same source and same motive? The author does not discuss the relationship between discovery of huge amount of Nickel in Burundi and the ” crisis”! Is Nkurunziza government decision to grant Nickel mining concession to a Russian company related to this ” crisis”?
I do appreciate that the author could never have covered everything about Burundi’s problem in one newspaper article. However, failure to mention that there are cross border actors to this conflict is serious omission .
What’s Kagame and his international business partners’ role in the conflict? Is it by coincidence that Rwanda shelters a significant number of former Burundi military officers who have claimed responsibility for attacks in Burundi, including grenade attacks in open markets? Is it a coincidence that as soon as Nkurunziza turned his back on Kagame and supported Tanzania to fight Kagame’s M23 in DRC, Burundi was attacked by ” rebels” from DRC, most of whom were Rwandans? Is it by coincidence that Kagame’s paid lobbyists have taken a leading role in a disinformation campaign against Burundi? Is it a coincidence that some ” rebels” that have been arrested and/or killed fighting in Burundi are from Kagame’s army?
Dr Charles Kambanda