01-23-2017 ■ Facilitator Benjamin Mkapa organized a dialogue session in Arusha. The objective was to announce an agenda for a way out of the crisis. Written by Agnès Ndirubusa and translated by Pierre Emmanuel Ngendakumana At the outset, the last session of Arusha was reserved for exiled opponents who had not (...)

01-20-2017 ■ This Thursday 19 January 2017, the European parliament has written to the Burundi government, spelling out a number of accusations about human rights violations. It has also condemned the law legalising the “Imbonerakure”, a violent youth militia, according to the European parliament. The European parliament says its report on (...)

01-20-2017 ■ After months of no pay, Burundi soldiers in Somalia are paid in less than a month, AU envoy tells Burundi during visit. “We have settled this issue with the Burundian authorities. Burundi signed with me a memorandum of understanding that allows the African Union to transfer these salaries to (...)

01-19-2017 ■ Smail Chergui, AU Commissioner for Peace and Security, arrived in Bujumbura in the afternoon of 18 January 2017. He paid tribute to the Burundian soldiers who lost their lives in the fighting against the Al-Shabab terrorist group in Somalia. Chergui laid a wreath on the grave of Brigadier General (...)

01-17-2017 ■ The mediator in the Burundi conflict, William Benjamin Mkapa, organized a session on 16 January in Arusha for different stakeholders in the Burundi crisis. The presidential term limit and formation of a Government of National Union have mainly been discussed among other points, says Bamvuginyumvira, Chairman of opposition party (...)

01-17-2017 ■ Residents of Mutakura and Cibitoke areas located in northern Bujumbura say several of their neighbors who had fled to other places during the demonstrations against President Pierre Nkurunziza’s third term have now returned except some who went abroad. About 50 percent of the refugees have returned, local administration says. (...)

01-16-2017 ■ The deputy head of the civilian cabinet to the president wrote a letter on January 10 to the minister of foreign affairs emphasizing the imminent withdrawal and immediate return of Burundian troops engaged in peace keeping mission in Somalia. According to Dr Sabine Ntakarutimana, Deputy Head of the civilian (...)

01-16-2017 ■ Three people have been killed in an attack perpetrated in Kavumu area of Muyira zone in Kanyosha commune of Bujumbura Province, on 14 January. Six people have been arrested for investigations. Unknown armed men shot three people including two men and a kid aged 10 in Kavumu area of (...)

01-16-2017 ■ Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza has advanced the possibility of his candidacy in the 2020 elections. An announcement that arouses controversy. Written by Agnès Ndirubusa and translated by Pierre Emmanuel Ngendakumana “If the new Constitution allows it and the people demand it, I will not refuse”. An announcement by Pierre (...)

01-13-2017 ■ The spokesman for the Burundian national police, Pierre Nkurikiye, held a press conference on Thursday clarifying the acts of kidnapping and swindling that are becoming more common in Burundi. Recently, there have been many cases of kidnapping all over the country, the police conducted investigation. “Since 2015 the rate (...)