Regional
Burundi Rwanda ties: the waiting game
Recent developments in the Burundi-Rwanda
relationship have generated hope among the peoples of the two nations as signs
of “very good progress” have been registered.
Burundi's Minister for East
African Community Affairs, Amb Ezechiel Nibigira, had this observation when he
addressed members of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) on Tuesday,
November 23, while responding to questions regarding the EAC's peace and
security strategy.
This comes after Rwanda’s
Prime Minister, Dr Edouard Ngirente, recently travelled to Burundi for the
country’s 59th Independence Day celebrations where he
represented President Paul Kagame. Dr Ngirente was very well received in
Burundi, with President Evariste Ndayishimiye terming the gesture as ‘hoe that
cultivates good relations’. He predicted ‘better days ahead in the way both
countries will relate going forward.
Prior to the PM’s July visit
in Bujumbura, it had been years since a Rwandan official attended a state
function in the neighbouring country. The recent statement by
Burundi’s minister at the EALA session underpinned the understanding that
countries in the region are all inter-dependent when he mentioned that member
states very well know that peace and security are the foundation of development
of each country.
Nibigira alluded to the fact that his country, just like other member states, was working towards resolving outstanding pertinent issues. Rwanda on the other hand, endorses the assessment, especially the fact that the most recent events shore up the new development in the revamped diplomatic ties between the two brotherly nations.
In July 2021, Rwanda extradited 19 militiamen of Red Tabara, an
armed group that launched a rebellion against the Burundian government in 2015.
The extradition was done through the Expanded Joint Verification Mechanism
(EJVM). In a reciprocal fashion, on October 19 Burundi handed over to
Rwanda 11 anti-Rwanda fighters of the Forces Nationale de
Libération (FLN), a terror outfit operating in neighboring countries and
working to distabilise Rwanda.
Despite all these
developments and against the people’s excitement to the normalization process
of the two country’s diplomatic relations, officials from both sides have
described the current bilateral relations development as progressive. Rwandans
might still have to wait for a little longer before boarding their
transnational buses to BJ (Bujumbura) and catch up for the time they have been
missing the beautiful lakeside city.
Similarly, their brothers and
sisters from Burundi still wonder for how long they have to wait before they
can be allowed to use the cheapest transport mean to come to Rwanda and enjoy
the beautiful and lively places in Rwanda. I hear many of them can’t wait to
party at the shores of Kivu and Muhazi lakes.
Here is what they all need
to know. The latest meeting between the two countries’ Ministers for
Foreign Affairs, Dr Vincent Biruta and Amb Albert Shingiro, on the sidelines of
the 76th United Nations General Assembly in New York, was a major big
step. The Ministers exchanged on matters of bilateral relations and the road to
normalization, and alluded to the fact that both Rwanda and Burundi were
committed to the normalization of their relations and that it was a process
they had started.
Yes, a promising process but
certainly it cannot happen overnight. What matters is that things are looking
up. The peoples of the two countries want to reinvent their respective
raving trips to one another but they should understand that one element is
decisive; their peace and security as the minister told the regional Parliament.
The day both country’s will
have gained enough confidence that neither of them is habouring people who have
the intent to destablise the other, and that there is no realistic indication
of such intentions by any of the two states then it will be time to pack our
bags and revamp business between our two countries.
That day is coming.