BUJUMBURA, Burundi
Just when it all seemed calm, Burundi’s political tensions have risen again, following suspicions some senior leaders were plotting to oust President Evariste Ndayishimiye.
On Friday last
week, President Ndayishimiye (pictured above), while addressing government officials in
the capital Gitega, warned “some individuals” who he did not
name are threatening to overthrow his government, just after two
years in the office.
“Do you think an army general
can be threatened by saying they will make a coup d’état? Who is
that? Whoever it is should come and in the name of God I will defeat him,” Mr
Ndayishimiye warned.
The Burundian president
expressed his frustration in the country’s political capital after video clips
circulated on social media showing the country’s Prime Minister Alain Guillaume
Bunyoni lamenting about “individuals who are backbiting” instead of
telling things straight away.
The clips raised concerns of a
possible feud between the Prime Minister and the President due
to a power struggle even though the two have often
appeared in public and the council of ministers’ meetings together.
“I want to tell those who
think they are powerful to be humble…there is one I saw…in Burundi, there
will never be any coup d’état again and God is the witness…those who wish
bad things for Burundi, they should prepare for defeat,” the
Burundian leader and army general warned.
A professor at the University
of Bujumbura told The EastAfrican that the tensions between
the PM and the President may be because of the policy changes under Gen
Ndayishimiye. “There is a struggle inside the system as the president is
changing a lot of things like fighting corruption and impunity. Many within are
feeling the pinch,” he said on condition of anonymity so he can discuss the
topic without fear of reprisals.
President Ndayishimiye, who
took over power in June 2020, promised to restore the rule of law,
accountability and fight against impunity. This has resulted to
dozens of high-profile government officials relieved from their duties for
failure to deliver. This push has seen him regularise ties with the West
as financial sanctions imposed by the European Union were lifted in February
this year.
Burundi had gone through
turmoil since it gained its Independence in 1962 with the most recent political
crisis dating back in 2015 when protests against the former president Pierre
Nkurunziza led to deaths of more than 1,000 people. There was a coup attempt
to overthrow Nkurunziza’s government as he attended a summit of the East
African Community in Dar es Salaam. The culprits are still serving
jail terms.
“A coup d’état at this moment
is more difficult but what we need to understand is that there is a crack within
the system, and who knows what comes tomorrow? The president is facing a big
challenge now,” the professor argued.
Burundi has witnessed three
coups, two presidential assassinations, in addition to the failed coup in 2015
that plunged the country into deadly unrest. – The EastAfrican
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