Kampala-Uganda

On January 21, 2024, Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye, addressed over 500 youths in Kinshasa, in his capacity as the African Union Champion for Youth, Peace and Security, where he pledged to help topple a democratically elected government in Rwanda led by President Paul Kagame.

Ndayishimiye made these remarks to overthrow the government of Rwanda with the African Union flag beside him.

Reacting to the inflammatory comments, the Office of Rwandan Government Spokesperson released a statement, a day after, stating that the Burundian president, “made several baseless and incendiary allegations aimed at inciting division among Rwandans, and further jeopardizing peace and security in the great lakes region.”

There are several questions arising from the angered general population in Rwanda. They first of all ask whether Ndayishimiye represented the African Union at the Kinshasa Youth meeting, and if this is the case, then the statements made commit the continental body as well.

If Ndayishimye was not representing the continental body, then the AU Chairperson should publicly disown the Burundian president’s threats to overthrow Kagame’s government as not being the position of AU, since Ndayishimiye addressed the youth with the AU flag before him.

In his speech, again the Burundian president claimed that Rwandan youth were “prisoners” and that he was ready to help “liberate” them.

This was inviting the Rwandan youth to rebel and overthrow their government with the support of Ndayishimiye.

Making this statement on an African Union platform is a violation of the African Union principles of non-interference in internal matters of other countries, and undermines peace and security among AU member states.

Ndayishimiye violated and abused the essence of the AU flag which stands for peace, wealth, bright future, hopes and aspirations. Such abuse of the AU flag should not be tolerated and the AU Secretariat should not remain silent.

Ndayishimiye is opening fresh wounds and he brings sad memories to Rwandans where thousands of youth were used by the genocidal regime to commit the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.

The Interahamwe were youth who were trained to kill their fellow countrymen.

Fortunately, the Rwandan youth today have a different mindset due to good governance.

Under the visionary leadership of President Kagame, Rwandans from all walks of life, old and young, have worked together to promote unity of the Rwandan people and development of the country.

The youth are engaged in various developmental projects aimed at building a brighter future. By trying to corrupt the mindset of Rwandan youth, Ndayishimiye wants to take Rwanda back into the dark days.

By calling on Rwandan youth to overthrow their government, Ndayishimiye in his capacity as the African Union Champion for Youth, Peace and Security, has not only failed in his duties. He has also badly embarrassed the AU,  by engaging in war mongering contrary to expected duties of promoting peace and development on the Africa continent.

The AU secretariat should call upon Ndayishimiye to resign with immediate effect since the image of the continental body is at stake because of the anti-Rwandan leadership utterances made under the banner of an AU flag.

A leader who can instill the right values among African youth should replace Ndayishimiye.

He should be replaced by someone who will best mobilize African youth to understand, for example, Africa’s development agenda 2063, and their role to make it succeed.

The African youth deserve better. They should be mobilized to understand the benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the need for youth-led advocacy to ensure that the AU trade policy promotes economic development and prosperity for all Africans.

This is a simple example of the discussions that Ndayishimiye should have engaged in with African youth rather than his treacherous ambitions of removing President Kagame from power.

The AU leadership should bring Ndayishimiye to order and ensure that the African youth are not diverted to be agents of divisionism and warmongers, but instead, be enlightened on being active participants in building a peaceful and prosperous Africa that makes them proud to be Africans.