Pentagon accuses Tanzania's President of political repression

New York, USA

Tanzania's “democratic experiment” is imperiled by repressive laws and political violence being carried out by the country's ruling party, a think tank affiliated with the US Defence Department warned early this week.

Over the past five years, President John Magufuli “has banned rallies, muzzled the press, cowed and co-opted independent institutions and committed overt and covert violence against political opponents and 'dissenters' within the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party,” said an analysis by the Washington-based Africa Centre for Strategic Studies.

“Tanzanians today live in a climate increasingly filled with fear and reticence to exercise their rights lest they run afoul of a raft of new restrictive laws or suffer physical retribution,” the think tank added.

The ruling party's anti-democratic actions could thus call into question any claim of victory it makes in the national elections scheduled for next month, the centre predicted.

“This will necessarily have consequences for ties between the Magufuli government and democracy-supporting regional and international actors." 

The analysts drew a sharp contrast between President Magufuli's autocratic rule and founding President Julius Nyerere's commitment to democratic norms.

Mwalimu Nyerere “conceived of African liberation as the building of inclusive democracy, a free press, tolerance of criticism, respect for minorities and limits on power,” the Africa Centre observed.

Under President Magufuli, however, Tanzania has witnessed “a pattern of murders, assaults and disappearances” aimed at opposition activists and figures within CCM who criticise the country's direction.

“Violence has become deeply embedded in CCM’s current calculus of control,” the Pentagon think tank stated.

The Africa Centre quotes independent commentator Andrew Bomani, whose father worked as an aide to President Nyerere, as lamenting: “We had come to believe in a form of exceptionalism that such practices could never happen in our country.”

Freedom of the press has also deteriorated markedly since President Magufuli came to power in 2015, the assessment noted.

It cited the country's descent from 70th to 124th place in the annual global press freedom index compiled by Reporters Without Borders. That drop was the most precipitous of any country in the world during the past five years.

Many of the restrictions imposed on the Tanzanian society have been tightened this year on the grounds that such measures are needed to halt the spread of the coronavirus, the think tank notes.

President Magufuli has simultaneously claimed, however, that Tanzania has been purged of the virus. And the government has stopped publishing statistics on the number of infections in the country.

“Tanzania’s lack of transparency in response to the pandemic is widely seen as having accelerated the virus’s spread in East Africa,” the Africa Centre stated.

Hope remains, however, that Tanzania will return to a democratic path.

Mwalimu Nyerere's legacy, along with interventions by faith-based bodies, can serve as “a source of resilience in navigating the way forward,” the centre said.

In addition, “regional engagement is vitally important given Tanzania’s historical role in continental affairs,” the analysis suggested.

“This, however, must go beyond traditional diplomacy, given that the CCM is still viewed as a senior leader and mentor by fellow ruling liberation movements.”

Much depends on these African leaders “overcoming their aversion to confronting the CCM”, the think tank observed.

Mozambique denies accusations of abuses in insurgency-hit province

By Manuel Mucari, MAPUTO MOzambique

Mozambique on Thursday denied accusations by rights group Amnesty International that soldiers had committed atrocities, saying the acts were carried out by Islamist insurgents impersonating troops.

Militants with links to Islamic State have stepped up attacks in Mozambique this year, alarming governments across southern Africa.

Amnesty said on Wednesday it had seen videos showing soldiers in the uniforms of the Mozambique Armed Defence Forces and the Mozambique Rapid Intervention Police committing atrocities against alleged fighters in the northernmost province of Cabo Delgado.

“The videos and pictures show the attempted beheading, torture and other ill-treatment of prisoners; the dismemberment of alleged opposition fighters; possible extrajudicial executions; and the transport and discarding of a large number of corpses into apparent mass graves,” Amnesty said.

Mozambique’s defence ministry on Thursday dismissed the report, saying militants regularly impersonated soldiers.

“One of the tactics used by terrorists in their macabre incursions against the population is to pretend to be elements of the FDS (Defense and Security Forces) in a veiled attempt to confuse national and international public opinion,” said ministry spokesman Colonel Omar Nala Saranga.

“The Defense and Security Forces reiterate that they do not agree with any form of torture, beheading attempts, mistreatment or illegal acts,” he added in a statement.

Militant attacks began in Cabo Delgado in 2017, and have rapidly gathered pace this year with insurgents seizing key towns for brief periods and hitting military and other key targets.

The violence has alarmed energy majors exploring huge natural gas deposits there.

French oil firm displaced 12,000 in Uganda, Tanzania - Report

By Godfrey Olukya, KAMPALA, Uganda

Two research reports on oil released Thursday highlight major risks of oil projects by French energy company Total in Uganda and Tanzania.

Oil from Uganda is to be pumped through pipelines to Tanzania’s Port of Tanga. But many residents on land through which the pipes are planned to pass have been affected.

At least 12,000 families in Tanzania and Uganda have lost land, according to the reports. There is also endangerment of sensitive and vital ecosystems.

The reports, “Empty Promises down the Line?” researched by Oxfam and “New Oil, Same Business?” by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI), question the way oil companies are executing business in the Albertine Rift region.

Livingstone Sewanyana, the head of FHRI, while launching the reports at the foundation’s headquarters in Kampala requested government and oil companies to consider voices of communities and findings when implementing oil development in the region.

“There is need to assist the people with land where the pipelines are going to be constructed. Their voices must be respected,’’ said Sewanyana.

FIDH Vice President Sheila Muwanga said the reports offer community-driven recommendations of urging oil companies and governments who are on the verge of making final investment decisions for pipeline constriction that starts in March, to undertake measures that avoids human and environmental disasters.

“It is important to hear voices of communities on this sensitive topics. We have got testimonies of community members who have cited harassment,’’ she said.

Harrison Asaba, a resident in the Buliisa district accuses Total of not compensating several homesteads that were in the range of 300 meters from wells but instead forcing them to vacate their lands.

Advocacy officer with the foundation for Human Rights Initiative, Rashid Bunya, said companies in extraction of oil in Bunyoro should compensate project-affected residents.

Bunya said FHRI and other civil society organizations would go to court to seek redress for residents who were displaced and were not fully compensated.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the project was agreed in October 2015 between the governments of Tanzania and Uganda, Total, and the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC). The MoU committed all parties to agree on a framework for appraising a low cost pipeline route to the sea via Tanzania

Six killed in northern Burundi gun attack

By Our Correspondent, KAYANZA Burundi

Unknown attackers shot and killed six people in northern Burundi, an official said on Friday.

The attack happened just weeks after a similar attack was reported in a southern province.

The group launched the attack in Kayanza province on Thursday night from the Kibira forest, the regional governor said, and fled to the same area after the attack.

“They arrived at a small center… killed six people including two kids studying in primary school II and V,” Remy Cishahayo, army colonel and governor of Kayanza province, said on state-owned National Radio Television of Burundi.

Two people were wounded and were receiving treatment, while the attackers kidnapped one person, Cishahayo said.

The forest in the past has served as cover for the ruling CNDDFDD – The National Council for the Defence of Democracy, Forces for the Defence of Democracy party – during its rebellion.

The center attacked on Thursday is near the forest.

“People should stay calm and united ensuring security together,” Cishahayo said, adding the situation has returned to normalcy.

The East African nation of 11 million people is one of the world’s poorest countries. It became an international pariah after then-President Pierre Nkurunziza crushed protests triggered by his decision to run for a third term in 2015.

Evariste Ndayishimiye took over in June following the sudden death of his predecessor. - Africa

Junta to appoint Mali leader in two-year transition

BAMAKO, Mali

Constitutional experts raised the prospect of two years of military-led rule in Mali following last month’s coup at talks on Friday, defying calls by the West African economic bloc ECOWAS for elections within a year.

The August 18 coup that toppled Ibrahim Boubacar Keita led to swift economic sanctions by ECOWAS, which fears it could set a dangerous precedent in the region and undermine the fight against Islamist militants across West Africa’s Sahel region.

The experts’ recommendations emerged on the second day of talks on a transition. ECOWAS, which stands for the Economic Community of West African States, has given the ruling junta until Tuesday to name a transitional president and prime minister.

In an eight-page “charter of the transition” the experts wrote that a transitional period of 24 months was needed “in light of the complexity, the gravity and the structural depth of the Malian crisis”.

They recommended that the ruling junta, the National Committee for the Salvation of the People (CNSP), choose the interim president and vice president and propose the prime minister, who would be appointed by the interim president.

The recommendations have not yet been formally approved by the representatives of the CNSP, political leaders and civil society groups taking part in the talks, which are due to end on Saturday.

Some Malian political leaders have insisted, along with ECOWAS, that the interim president is a civilian, but the document said the person can be a soldier or civilian.

The candidate must be between the ages of 35 and 75 and would not be eligible to stand for election at the end of the transition, it said.

Ghana will host a mini-summit of ECOWAS leaders next Tuesday, a spokeswoman for Ghana’s foreign ministry said. It has not said what it will do if its demands are not met by then.

No Tanzanian soldier killed by insurgents in Mozambique

By Our Correspondent, MTWARA Tanzania

Regional Commissioner for Mtwara region in Tanzania, Gelasius Byakanwa has denied recent reports on social media claiming that several Tanzanian soldiers and civilians had been killed in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique by insurgents.

In May this year, Tanzania deployed additional troops at the Mozambique border to boost security amid increased insurgent activity in Cabo Delgado province. In the previous month, insurgent activity reportedly killed at least 50 people in Muidumbe district with the United Nations recording at least 28 attacks and over 400 people killed in the region since the beginning of the year.  

It has been reported on social media that a number of Tanzania army officers were killed by insurgents in the border area, the report that Byakanwa denies vehemently.

"48 killed and relatives are aware and informed! I know 2 families who lost their relatives" One twitter post read.

"As I speak now, there is no military officer or any civilian from Tanzania who has been killed on the Tanzanian border with Mozambique," Byakanwa said.

The Commissioner said that Tanzania's border with Mozambique is secure even as attacks continue in the northern province of Cabo Delgado.

Speaking at a news conference, Byakanwa said that the government has beefed up security through several major security operations in all the areas.

In August 12, Tanzanian military officials ordered civilian living in forest on the border with Mozambique to vacate ahead of major security operations aimed at dislodging Islamist militants from the area.

"Our security organs are very alert and well organized to ensure Tanzania's border with the neighbouring country is safe," he stressed.

The RC explained that security officers along the border were strictly monitoring all travellers entering the country from Mozambique, urging Tanzanians living at the border to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activities in their respective areas for security purposes.

 "I call upon citizens, especially those located near Ruvuma River to give us information about people entering the country illegally and people who endanger public security," he said.

The Commissioner who is the chairperson of regional security committee stressed the need for Tanzanians travelling to Mozambique to ensure they travel through official routes and carry passports and other travelling documents for safety purposes.

He advised Tanzanians travelling to Mozambique to use Kilambo and Mtambaswala bridges, and that people in border communities should adhere to all instructions issued by local authorities and the central government.

Scores of Senegalese troops deployed to The Gambia test positive for COVID-19

DAKAR, Senegal

Scores of Senegalese soldiers deployed to neighboring The Gambia have tested positive for COVID-19.

“Out of a contingent of over 600 men, fewer than 100 tested positive,” a Senegalese army spokesman said on Thursday.

According to the spokesman, the army had recalled its soldiers to the village of Toubacouta just north of the Gambian border “as a precautionary measure.”

Further tests were underway, the spokesman said, adding that the soldiers who had tested positive have been placed in a hotel in the coastal village of Guerero, some 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of the capital Dakar.

He, however, did not specify when or where the soldiers had been infected.

The troops are a part of a West African peacekeeping force deployed in January 2017 to The Gambia after the country’s former dictator, Yahya Jammeh, refused to hand over power after losing a presidential election.

The majority of the troops in the Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS) force are Senegalese, which completely surrounds the tiny former British colony.

“So far, The Gambia has recorded 3,239 COVID-19 cases with 99 fatalities.

Senegal has recorded 14,150 cases and 293 fatalities.

 

Belgium to return tooth of assassinated Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba to family

BRUSSELS, Belgium

Patrice Lumumba, Congo's first Prime Minister, was assassinated in 1961 and his body destroyed, except for a single tooth. After years of lobbying, his daughter told DW getting his last remains was "a great victory."

A court in Belgium has cleared the way for the tooth of Congolese independence hero Patrice Lumumba to be returned to his native country. Prosecutors said on Thursday that Lumumba's only remains will be handed back to his relatives.

The decision ends years of lobbying for what is seen as a deeply symbolic gesture to the Congolese people.

Lumumba became the newly independent Congo's first prime minister in 1960 when he was just 34 years old, after advocating for an end to colonial rule. But after a military coup and the rise of dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, Lumumba was arrested and jailed.

He was assassinated by separatists in January 1961. Lumumba's body is said to have been dismembered and dissolved with acid, in an apparent attempt to keep any grave from becoming a pilgrimage site.

The tooth was allegedly pulled from his corpse during the effort and taken from Congo to Belgium by a man whose family then apparently kept it for more than half a century. The man was a policeman who had helped dispose of Lumumba's body.

Eric Van Duyse, a Belgian federal prosecutor's office spokesman said no DNA test could be conducted on the tooth, as "if such a test had been done it would have destroyed the tooth itself.''

But judicial officials were all but certain that it belonged to Lumumba because of where authorities got the tooth, Van Duyse said without elaborating.

Juliana Lumumba, the independence hero's daughter, told DW that the family was happy about the outcome.

"My first reaction is, of course, that this is a great victory," Lumumba said, "because at last, 60 years after his death, the mortal remains of my father, who died for his country and its independence and for the dignity of Black people, will return to the land of his ancestors."

Her brother Francois Lumumba told DW it was up to the government of Belgium now to make sure that the remain returned to Congo's capital, Kinshasa, as soon as possible.

For many in Congo, Lumumba represents a symbol of what the country could have become after its independence. His assassination is seen by many as a lost opportunity for democracy.

Instead, Mobutu went on to rule the country, which he later renamed Zaire, for decades until his death in 1997. This time period was characterized by the plundering of the state and its vast mineral riches.

The death of Lumumba is a highly contentious event in African history. Question have persisted for decades over the alleged complicity of Belgium and the United States in the coup and his death, due to his perceived ties to the Soviet Union.

A Belgian parliamentary probe did determine that the government was "morally responsible" for Lumumba's death, while a 1975 US Senate committee uncovered a failed CIA plan to assassinate him.

Kenyans to wait until 2025 for oil billions

By Edwin Okoth, NAIROBI Kenya

Kenyans will have to wait until after 2025 for petrodollars from Turkana oil fields to start trickling in after the government extended the exploration timeline for Tullow. 

The British oil explorer Wednesday said it had been granted another 15 months for exploration phase of the Turkana oil project, essentially pushing ahead production timelines and extending the long-awaited final investment decision.

Tullow in a statement accompanying its half year results to June 2020 said the extension was part of the deal that led to its lifting of a force majeure on the project last month.

The explorer said it had suspended its intended sale of stake in the project without specifying its next move on the intended farm down for a 50 percent shareholding in blocks 10BB and 3T in the Turkana.

“Kenya has agreed to an initial extension to the second additional exploration period for the 10BB and 13T licence blocks until 31 December 2020 with a final extension until 31 December 2021, contingent on an agreed work programme and budgets. Separately, the farm down process has been suspended while the joint venture partners complete a comprehensive review of the development concept to ensure it continues to be robust at low oil prices, and also consider the strategic alternatives for the asset,” Tullow said in a statement.

The move now pushes further away the timelines for the project that had originally been set for 2021 before several extensions.

Tullow whose half year net earnings dropped 138 percent to a loss of $1.3 billion, will need to source for funds together with the Kenyan Government to build a pipeline after the investment decision has been made.

This will be followed by another 38 months to build the Lamu-Lokichar pipeline, effectively putting Kenya’s first yield from the oil resources beyond 2025.

The Kenya Civil Society Platform on Oil and Gas said the new change of timeline reveals how slow the project has been progressing closer to the production phase and risks its future prospects as more delay may hurt its attractiveness for investments in the long run.

 

Kenya’s anti-COVID-19 battle shifts to rural counties amid rising infections

NAIROBI, Kenya

The Kenyan government said Tuesday it has ramped up interventions aimed at containing COVID-19 disease in the rural counties that have lately witnessed a spike in caseload.

Rashid Aman, chief administrative secretary in the Ministry of Health, said the country is not yet out of the woods yet despite low positivity rates in the capital Nairobi and the coastal city of Mombasa that were previously regarded as the pandemic’s hotspots.

Aman said that rising COVID-19 infections in several rural counties could derail efforts to flatten the curve.

“While as we have witnessed the number of positive cases decline in Nairobi and Mombasa, some rural counties have recorded a spike and therefore we must continue to adhere to containment measures,” Aman said at a briefing in Nairobi on Tuesday.

He said that positivity rates were below 5 percent in Nairobi and Mombasa as opposed to several rural counties that were recording more than 7 percent rate of infection.

Aman said that Kenya’s ability to flatten the curve in the near future hinged on robust investment in COVID-19 mitigation measures in the rural counties.

“The communities living in rural and peri-urban counties should maintain social distancing, wear face masks and avoid large gatherings in order to minimize the risk of contracting COVID-19,” said Aman.

He said that devolved units should partner with the central government to increase the number of hospital beds, boost their testing and contact tracing capacity, in order to avert an implosion in cases and fatalities.

Aman warned county governments against relaxing containment measures amid risk of a secondary and tertiary wave of infection that could overwhelm local healthcare infrastructure.

He said that a decline in COVID-19 cases countrywide that accelerated in mid-July, reaffirmed the effectiveness of containment measures that should be ramped up in the emerging rural hotspots.

According to Aman, eastern Kenyan counties of Machakos, Kitui and Meru had experienced a spike in infections while Busia County that borders Uganda had also emerged as a pandemic hotspot.

Kenya’s COVID-19 caseload reached 35,356 on Tuesday after 151 patients including 77 women and 74 men tested positive to the disease.

No single death was reported in the last 24 hours and the national fatality tally remained at 599 while 173 patients recovered from the virus, raising the cumulative number of recoveries to 21,483.

Public health specialists hailed the decline in positive cases but stressed that rural counties deserved adequate resources to revitalize anti-COVID-19 war amid fragile health systems, poverty and inadequate testing that could hamper efforts to defeat the virus.

Githinji Gitahi, CEO of Amref Health Africa, said that deployment of additional health workers combined with improved testing, tracing and isolation infrastructure in rural counties is key to reduce COVID-19 caseload and deaths.

“The rural counties were late in experiencing transmissions and therefore any efforts to suppress the virus and prevent a second wave of transmission should be channeled there,” Gitahi said during an interview at a local television station.

 

Is Tanzania Electoral Commision delaying appeals of 557 candidates?

By Our Correspondent, DAR ES SALAAM Tanzania

The Tanzania National Electoral Commission (NEC) has endorsed appeals for only 15 opposition parties’ parliamentary candidates out of 100 that were barred from stating campaigns following massive objection over candidacy qualification from the ruling party candidates.

Director of Elections, Wilson Charles

In a press statement presented by the Director of Elections, Wilson Charles, Tuesday September 9 the commission have decided only 55 appeals out of 557; endorsing 15 parliamentary candidates who were initially barred from running after successful appeals.

He said that other 15 disqualified aspirants who sought to be put on the ballot paper were rejected, adding that NEC had rejected other 25 objections that sought disqualification of endorsed candidates.

Initially, NEC said that it had received 557 objection appeals countrywide, most of which were filed by ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi against rival opposition parties in Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar.

The statement did not disclose names of successful appellants and those who’s filed appeals rejected nor why the exercise is taking that long as campaigns started on August 28.

Charles said that his institution will continue to release more results of the filed appeals by disqualified candidates and objections raised after nominations and endorsement by NEC.

“NEC has carefully reviewed documents and statements of appellants as well as responses from those whose nominations were objected to ensure that justice is done in accordance with electoral laws and regulations,” Charles.

After the announcement of list of candidates endorsed by NEC last month with one hundred candidates from opposition parties disqualified, opposition parties have had no avenue to rectify the situation than to appeal for democratic good sense from NEC and other state authorities, or appealing for support from the diplomatic community.

During the launch of its campaign rally in Dar es Salaam last month, the main opposition party CHADEMA appealed for support from Western countries, saying there were sinister motives in the massive disqualification of its candidates.

The party’s Presidential candidate, Tundu Lissu, said the international community should press the government and even individuals who took part in the disqualification of its candidates.

Lissu said the party had 3,754 councillorship candidates in the 3,955 wards all over the country, of which a total of 1,020 have been disqualified without valid reasons.

 “In the history of multiparty politics in this country since 1995, opposition aspirants have never been systematically disqualified as it is the case this year,” the former MP and opposition legal affairs spokesman added. 

Following ‘mass disqualification’ of opposition parties’ candidates, ACT – Wazalendo Presidential candidate for Zanzibar, Seif Shariff Hamad, said last month that their supporters cannot agree to sit back while their democratic rights are being taken away by force.

“Enough is enough, be prepared for mass action.” He said of party members being barred from the race adding that struggle needs perseverance; it needs commitment and determination.

Victims of Rwanda Police excessive force will get justice

KIGALI, Rwanda

The Rwanda National Police has admitted they have a big task to showcase to citizens that justice is being served in regard to police officers suspected of using excessive force while on duty.

In recent months, there have been a number of incidents where some police officers have shot people while on duty in different parts of the country, an issue that has stirred a public outcry especially on social media among Rwandans.

While speaking to the national broadcaster, Jean Bosco Kabera (pictured above), the Police Spokesperson admitted that it has been observed that some officers have individually used excessive, unnecessary and uncalled for force on duty, and a number of them will be prosecuted.

Unfortunately, he said, the Rwandan citizens are not aware that justice is being served concerning such officers, and so, police now have a big task going ahead to showcase to the people how they (the officers) are being tried before the law and the outcomes of their cases.

“When such things happen, police officers are brought to justice. We now have a big task as police to showcase how they are being prosecuted, how their cases are faring before the law, and the final outcome. I think citizens have questions about this,” he said

Regarding the recent cases of use of excessive force by police, Kabera gave examples of officers that are facing the law. Among these, he said one policeman who shot people in Nyanza in March is in prison from where he reports to court for his case.

Another officer who beat a Rwamagana citizen is also in custody (citizen later died in hospital); while one who shot a resident of Ngoma is also in custody and investigations are going on.

Kabera said that the information citizens get concerning such issues should not just stop on knowing that the officers were arrested, but rather should go further into the process.

He condemned the use of excessive force by the individual police officers, saying this should not be misinterpreted as the picture of the entire police force.

He added that police are mindful of the conduct of its officers, not only in regard to discouraging such criminal acts; but also holding them accountable to observing general discipline while on duty.

“Police punishes misbehavior of its officers from those that use excessive force to those who fail to observe general discipline for example those who refuse to give services to citizens or speak badly to them,” he said.

He however, asked Rwandan citizens to respect police, reminding them that no one is allowed to fight a police officer.

Use of excessive force by police has been quite a topic in the recent days, where even President Paul Kagame commented on it, and promised a solution to such concerns.

More Burundian refugees to return home

By Edmund Kagire, KIGALI Rwanda

Another batch of over 500 Burundian refugees in Rwanda is expected to head home this Thursday in the second round of repatriation, following the first group which left Mahama Refugee Camp for Burundi on August 27.

According to Elise Villechalane, the Spokesperson of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Rwanda, the second group will depart on September 10 and it is expected that over 500 refugees will be repatriated.

“So far we have 3,637 people who have registered to return home. Over 500 will be transported back home this week. We expect to see more convoys at least every week as more people continue to express the interest to voluntarily return home,” Villechalane told KT Press.

Technical teams from both countries have been meeting to assess the repatriation process, which has to be agreed upon between Rwanda and Burundi, with the support of UNHCR.

Villechalane said screening activities are ongoing to ascertain those who are ready to voluntarily return home, including assessing their health status to see if they need special support, details of where they will go in their home country and the specific needs of each of the refugees.

UNHCR said that predeparture assessment estimates that over 500 people will be repatriated this Thursday but the final figure will be determined before the D-day as the number of people is expected to increase.

The first group departed last month after sides from Rwanda and Burundi met to agree on the repatriation process. Officials from the Ministries responsible for refugees and military intelligence chief from both sides met to discuss the refugee situation.

The meetings came on the heels of controversial comments by Burundian President Maj. Gen Evariste Ndayishimiye, claiming that Burundian refugees were being held hostage by a neighbouring country to cover up those who sought to topple President Pierre Nkurunziza in 2018 as a political crisis gripped the East African country.

Rwanda reiterated that refugees in Rwanda from anywhere were free to voluntarily return to their respective countries whenever desired.

The meeting of officials from Rwanda and Burundi raised hopes that Kigali and Bujumbura were on course to work on restoring bilateral ties which have been frosty since 2015 but so far there is little progress.

In an interview on Sunday, September 6, aired on the national television Rwanda Television, President Paul Kagame spoke about the relations between Rwanda and Burundi, pointing out that his government has tried to reach out to the Burundian government to improve ties but Bujumbura has not been responsive.

“We have tried to do what we can, based on the times we are in and the different developments, to try and restore relations but Burundians have been reluctant or have not been responsive as expected but, on our side, we have showed the goodwill to do our part,”

“Good relations are in the interest of both countries. We all want peace equally. It is not a one-sided affair. When we say we want to better ties, it is not for us alone. It is for the sake of peace for all of us and for the good of our people,” President Kagame said, adding that this has been the case with Uganda as well.

Though the repatriation of Burundian refugees to their home country has raised hope of the refugee crisis in the East African region relenting, the UNHCR says it is facing major challenges in regard to the budgetary resources needed support the process.

“As you might be aware, there are more Burundian refugees returning home from different countries, not just the ones in Rwanda Rwanda. There was no budget for this, which means that UNHCR has to find resources by all means so that the refugees can be helped to return home,” Villechalane said, calling on the international community and donors to support the process.

Villechalane also pointed out that repatriating refugees during the COVID-19 pandemic has turned out to be a strenuous process since all people who want to return home voluntarily must be tested for the New Coronavirus, as part of the protocol, before they are allowed entry into Burundi.

“We are thankful to the Ministry of Health of Rwanda and Rwanda Biomedical Centre for facilitating this process by conducting tests on refugees who want to voluntarily return home but generally COVID-19 has made it made more difficult for us to carry out this exercise,” she said.

Rwanda is home to some 70, 000 Burundian refugees, 60, 000 of whom are in Mahama Camp located in Kirehe district, Eastern Province.

Majority fled the country in 2015 as the country descended into a political conflict triggered by late President Nkurunziza’s decision to seek a third term.

Sections of Burundian refugees in Rwanda, mainly those who openly opposed the re-election of Nkurunziza, remain reluctant to return home, fearing reprisal attacks, with many accusing President Ndayishimiye of not making assurances on safety.

Almost six years on, there are still over 150, 000 Burundian refugees scattered in different countries including Tanzania, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda, among others.