After a year of uncertainty since protests against President Pierre Nkurunziza’s decision to run for a third term in office began, the East African Community has now declared Burundi safe to host its activities.
The EAC suspended its activities in Bujumbura in the run-up to the June 2015 elections at the height of protests by activists who insisted that Nkurunziza’s candidacy violated the Constitution, even though the country’s highest court had cleared him to run for the presidency.
Last week, an EAC security mission comprising representatives from the other four partner states was in Burundi for four days to assess the situation. The team released a report showing that they were satisfied that the security in Burundi “is satisfactory for continuation of activities with minimal risk to staff and delegates.”
The mission comprised the assistant director in Tanzania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and EAC, Aman Mwatonoka, Uganda’s director of strategic intelligence at the military headquarters, Lt-Col David Lumumba, advisor on EAC Affairs in Burundi’s Ministry of Public Security, Emmanuel Niyonizigiye, and the director of political affairs in Kenya’s State Department for EAC Ministry, David Njoka.
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