In the night of June 15th, the office of CNL party established in Nyabiraba commune of Bujumbura province was set ablaze and destroyed. Agathon Rwasa, the party’s chairman, deplores the political intolerance.
The CNL party office in Bujumbura province which was set on fire
“It’s a shame on a country said to be democratic,” says Agathon Rwasa, the president of the National Congress for Liberty (CNL).
He says there is a hand of the local administration in what happened in Nyabiraba commune. Mr. Rwasa accuses the communal and provincial leaders of collaborating in disturbing the activities of CNL.
“The provincial and communal administration refused that there should be an office of CNL party in Nyabiraba. People who were there to protect the office in the same night were removed by the police and the house caught fire shortly after,” he says.
Mr. Rwasa says the communal administrator might have intimidated the house owner not to accept the rent proposal from CNL, otherwise, it would be reduced to ashes.
The party chairman says the crime proves “the political intolerance”. He requests the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Presidential office to dismiss leaders who can no longer assert good leadership.
“Such administrators are not helping us prepare peaceful elections. They should be fired,” he says.
As for Ferdinand Simbananiye, the Communal Administrator of Nyabiraba, he denies the political intolerance in his commune. He says there has been an invasion of unknown people who might be behind the crime.
“The police have been alerted to the presence of unknown people around the CNL office. They carried out a night patrol and caught fifteen people hidden behind the office,” says Simbananiye. As they took those people to the police station, they heard an explosion and realized the party’s office was on fire, he adds.
Mr. Simbananiye rejects the accusations that he would have frightened the house owner not to rent it to CNL party.
He says the diversity of opinion leads the country to sustainable development.
It is not the first time such acts of political intolerance are reported in Burundi. Recently, unidentified people have thrown feces on the office of CNL party in Muhuta commune. Misunderstandings and conflicts are often said to occur between the youths from CNL party and those from the ruling party CNDD-FDD.
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