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 59^th 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.