01-07-2017 ■ Education officials, parents and students have diverging opinions on the suspension by the Education Ministry of extra-classes that were offered to help students. The Education Ministry decided on Wednesday 4 January 2017 to temporarily suspend lessons that were offered to middle and high school students after regular class hours. (...)

01-07-2017 ■ “Government and religious leaders lead the same people. Some are Christians and others Muslims. Some are even in the insurrectional movement”, said Révérien Ndikuriyo, the Senate speaker, in a meeting with religious leaders in Burundi on 5 January. Relations between the church and the state have been strained since (...)

01-07-2017 ■ The police seized a large quantity of counterfeit, illegal or smuggled products in Burundi, a new report has revealed. The December seizure was the result of cooperation between police forces in East Africa designed to tackle transnational crime. In a press release published Friday 6 January, the Director General (...)

01-06-2017 ■ Burundi’s opposition platform, CNARED, has said again that former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa, facilitator of crisis talks in Burundi, is not fit for the job. It calls on the East African Community (EAC) to include experts from both the UN and the AU in talks to end the Burundi (...)

01-06-2017 ■ The president Pierre Nkurunziza indicated that he will stand for another term if the people want him in the power. Canada has concerns. On Thursday 5th January, the minister of foreign affairs in Canada released a declaration in which he explained his fears for the future in Burundi. “Canada (...)

01-06-2017 ■ Burundi has now potentials to offer better and low-cost care to cataract patients thanks to a recent acquisition of advanced surgical materials. Burundian cataract patients will be treated with up-to-date surgical equipment and medical materials that the Ministry of Public Health has recently acquired. The treatment might be at (...)

01-05-2017 ■ “Out of 31 people who were infected by cholera in Cibitoke district, 11 have now recovered and fortunately no one died”, says Dr Thaddée Ndikumana, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Health. He says the situation is under control, the program for fight against epidemic diseases has enough medications. “Patients (...)

01-05-2017 ■ The chairman of Burundian teachers’ Union-CONAPES, Emmanuel Mashandari, says the number of teachers allowed by the 2017 budget is not enough. Only 800 teachers will be recruited; 400 in secondary education and 400 remaining others in primary education. “The number of teachers planned in the 2017 budget is too (...)

01-05-2017 ■ Burundi Government has recently struck off the “Ligue Iteka” human rights association accusing it of recalcitrant behavior. The UN and other organizations stand against the decision. “We are very disappointed to hear that the Burundian Government has banned the country’s oldest human rights organization, Ligue Iteka”, said Farhan Haq, (...)

01-05-2017 ■ The World Bank has forced Burundi government to privatize the coffee industry. With private managers advancing their own interests, millions of farmers continuously lose their once main source of income. Privatization of the coffee sector in Burundi continues to bring woes to farmers. The latter fear coffee production will (...)