BURUNDI and Tanzania revealed a plan to raise $1.9bn for constructing a railway line linking the two countries. Central Corridor Transit Transport Facilitation Agency (CCTTFA) Executive Secretary Dieudonné Dukundane said the project involved a 190km rail line that would link the Burundian city of Musongati to Isaka in Tanzania. According to the official, the objective […]
Tag: Burundi
An urgent appeal for $222.6 million was made on Tuesday by the UN refugee agency and partners to assist more than 315K Burundian refugees this year. “Increased international support is crucial to ensure Burundian refugees receive meaningful protection and care in neighbouring countries”, said Clementine Nkweta-Salami, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human […]
Burundi opposition leader Agathon Rwasa has expressed scepticism of President Evariste Ndayishimiye’s call for political tolerance by ruling party members. The president, while addressing government and party leaders in the capital Gitega, asked them to accommodate the opinion of the opposition. President Ndayishimiye said his government and CNDD-FDD ruling party have agreed to work for […]
Burundi’s President Evariste Ndayishimiye on Thursday urged the country’s media regulatory body (CNC) to hold an urgent meeting with media houses that were banned or sanctioned to discuss possible reopening of the businesses. “CNC should meet with the media owners so that they can solve this… because media has a very important role in citizens’ […]
An excerpt on Burundi from the annual Human Rights Watch publication, World Report 2021: Former President Pierre Nkurunziza, whose tenure was marked by widespread abuses, died in June, days after Évariste Ndayishimiye took power in Burundi following the May 2020 presidential elections. However, the serious human rights situation in the country remained largely unchanged. The […]
Burundi, which describes itself as “The Heart of Africa”, is generally bypassed by travellers to the region, with its more famous neighbours — Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda — taking the lion’s share of East Africa’s tourism pie. Bedevilled by unending political and civil unrest since the country gained independence from its Belgian colonial masters […]
Burundi has announced 40 new Covid-19 cases, the highest number of cases recorded in the country within two days since the first positive case was announced in March last year. The Ministry of Health said that on January 4, some 10 people tested positive for the virus when they went to get tested in preparation […]
The announcement of the death of Burundian former Pierre Buyoya by several sources, exposed the divisions between Burundians, in and outside the country, on his legacy. To date, neither the government nor his family has officially announced his death. As a president who came in power twice through military coups, in 1987-1993 and 1996 to […]
Burundi’s former president Pierre Buyoya, who served two terms, has died aged 71, according to reports. Buyoya served as president twice, from 1987-1993 and then 1996-2003. No details have been released yet but sources say he succumbed to an undisclosed illness. His death comes three weeks after he had resigned from the position of the […]
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Burundi’s Growing Femicide Problem
As authorities turn a blind eye to the growing cases of violence and spousal murder, women’s rights activists are increasingly vocal. The burial of Aline Inarukundo, whose death has shaken Bujumbura, took place on 7 March. Her body was kept in the morgue for 47 days. The delayed burial was the result of a tug […]
Burundi was the first country to offer troops to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 2022 as part of east Africa’s peace drive after a wave of attacks from the rebel group known as Mouvement du 23 Mars (M23). Burundi shares a 243km border with the DRC. Most of it runs through the Rusizi/Ruzizi […]
Burundi’s National Assembly should address significant shortcomings in the landmark 2016 law against gender-based violence (GBV) and inconsistencies in other relevant legislation to ensure effective prevention, protection and justice for survivors, Amnesty International said today in a new briefing. While Burundi’s 2016 GBV law was a milestone achievement, it falls short of regional and international […]
Care International has listed the ten forgotten humanitarian crises of last year — all of them in Africa. Climate change plays a huge role, the aid organization says, and more media attention is needed. Crises in Africa are being overlooked, with news about humanitarian emergencies on the continent buried beneath the weight of media attention […]
Relations between Burundi and Rwanda have been frosty for years. The border between the two nations, which reopened two years ago, has been closed again amid renewed tension. Some analysts now fear the spat will prolong. Burundi has suspended diplomatic ties with Rwanda and unilaterally closed its border. The move came last week, as the […]
In the wake of the arrest and detention of former PM Alain Guillaume Bunyoni, political observers weigh the consequences. There was some surprise when Alain Guillaume Bunyoni, once regarded as the power behind the throne, appeared at the Supreme Court in Bujumbura for the first time after his dramatic 21 April arrest, in handcuffs and […]
Bujumbura, Burundi — ‘Some decide to return to exile believing that they can find better things.’ Economic problems and enduring human rights issues continue to pose challenges to the thousands of Burundian returnees heading back to the country each year, though many are nonetheless striving to rebuild their lives and prepare for the future. More […]
Since 2005, Burundi has set quotas to ensure that the country’s three ethnic groups (Hutu, Tutsi and Twa), as well as women, are represented in its parliament, central government and municipal administrations. Its constitution states that women should make up at least 30% of these institutions. The senate, Burundi’s highest chamber of parliament, recently started […]
Kinshasa, DRC — Stability hangs in the balance in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where military leaders from five regional countries have been meeting for days to devise a coordinated military strategy to end hostilities that risk escalating into a regional conflict. EFFORTS TO END HOSTILITIES For days, military leaders from the […]