Gitega, Burundi | AFP | Burundi’s ruling party said Sunday that party leader General Evariste Ndayishimiye will stand as its candidate in a presidential election in May. Ndayishimiye is an ally of current President Pierre Nkurunziza who will not seek a new mandate after his controversial election to a …
Read More »Luxury villa, big cheque for outgoing Burundi presidents
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Burundi lawmakers on Tuesday adopted legislation offering a golden parachute to outgoing presidents, including a luxury villa and a one-off sum equivalent to more than half a million dollars. The move comes four months ahead of May 20 elections for which President Pierre Nkurunziza has said …
Read More »Who’s buying the biggest guns in East Africa?
Latest in Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Burundi firepower Kampala, Uganda | INDEPENDENT TEAM | Countries in the East African region continue to spend more on strengthening their armed forces, according to latest data. Although Kenya and Tanzania are the biggest spenders because of their relatively big budgets, most attention is on Uganda, …
Read More »4 Burundian journalists held for undermining state security
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Four journalists and their driver are still being held in Burundi after being arrested for undermining national security while covering a rebel attack from neighbouring DR Congo, the attorney general said. The Burundian reporters were detained on Tuesday last week while reporting in Bubanza, in the …
Read More »Uganda, African military chiefs discuss Great Lakes security issues
Goma, DR Congo | AFP | Senior military officers from five African Great Lakes countries met on Thursday to discuss violence which plagues part of their region, sources said. A military official said senior officers from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda gathered in the eastern town …
Read More »Almost 600 Burundian refugees return home from Tanzania
Gisuru, Burundi | AFP | Nearly 600 Burundians who fled political violence in their home country to Tanzania were on Thursday repatriated voluntarily, the UN refugee agency and witnesses said. The move came after the Tanzanian government vowed that from October 1 it would start repatriating all Burundians, willing or …
Read More »Burundi threatens to cut ties with UN envoy: diplomats
United Nations, United States | AFP | Burundi is threatening to cut ties with the UN envoy appointed to the country, ahead of elections next year that the government in Bujumbura insists are an internal matter, according to UN diplomats. The UN Security Council abruptly scrapped a meeting on Burundi scheduled …
Read More »Putting water at the heart of regional transformation
The Year of the Nile Basin: Putting Water at the Heart of Regional Transformation COMMENT | Dr Deo-Guide Rurema | World Water Day, on March 22 every year, is about focusing attention on the importance of water. This year’s celebration coincides with The Year of the Nile Basin, as declared by the …
Read More »Burundi schoolgirls jailed for doodling on president’s photo
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Three teenage schoolgirls in Burundi have been sent to prison to await trial for scribbling on a picture of President Pierre Nkurunziza in textbooks, activists said Thursday. The girls, aged 15, 16 and 17, face up to five years in prison for insulting the head …
Read More »Buyoya appeals to Museveni over Burundi peace accord
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Former Burundi president Pierre Buyoya, the subject of a government arrest warrant, has urged the international community to intervene over what he termed breaches of the country’s peace accord. The warrant against him was one such violation of the Arusha agreement of 2000 that ended …
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