Burundi raises red flag over sanctions

Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza’s ruling party CNDD-FDD has warned that the European Union sanctions against three top officials may derail efforts to resume dialogue between the government and the opposition.

A fortnight ago, the EU imposed a travel ban and asset freeze on four Burundians for allegedly blocking peaceful attempts to resolve the country’s nearly six-month-old conflict.

In addition to the EU sanctions on senior officials, Belgium announced suspension of about $60 million in aid to Burundi, whose budget is 52 per cent donor-funded.

Some Western countries, including Germany and the Netherlands, also suspended aid, while the United States is currently reviewing the eligibility of Burundi in Agoa, which earns the country close to $3 million in foreign exchange annually.

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Godefroid Bizimana, deputy police chief, and Mathias-Joseph Niyonzima, a senior Cabinet official, are among those affected by the sanctions.

The other two are an intelligence officer and Leonard Ngendakumana, one of the generals who led the failed coup bid.

“CNDD-FDD is surprised by the provocative sanctions applied by the EU to exclude some Burundians without [requesting] the concerned to explain and defend themselves before national courts or the EU,” the ruling party said in a statement.

The party warned that the EU sanctions will “divide Burundians instead of encouraging them to reconcile” and “torpedo government efforts to bring everybody around the dialogue table.”

Foreign Minister Alain Nyamitwe criticised the sanctions, saying Bujumbura does not believe in “domination of southern nations.”

CNDD-FDD said that instead of targeting state officers, the EU should “prosecute the coup leaders sheltered in some European Union member countries or repatriate them to be tried in Burundi.”

Attempts by the international community to bring the government and the opposition to the negotiating table have failed. The president’s allies have on several occasions insisted on an internally led process.

President Nkurunziza recently signed a law that establishes a national commission to spearhead reconciliation.

The 15-member commission, which includes three religious leaders, three political actors and two representatives from civil society organisations, has been criticised for not being representative enough.

Both parties to the crisis have not met since Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni botched mediation in July, and opposition leaders have fled to neighbouring countries and Europe.

President Nkurunziza’s government recently issued arrest warrants against them for allegedly organising the violence.

“The opposition is definitely not going to join the commission… It is going to be an empty shell and this has been made quite clear by the opposition leadership,” Thierry Vircoulon, the Central Africa director for the International Crisis Group, told The EastAfrican.

He added that: “The general sentiments are that no one [opposition] would want to be part of talks solely organised by President Nkurunziza.”

OP The East African