Uganda pushes for Burundi unity government

The State minister for Regional Cooperation, Philemon Mateke, has called for the formation of an all–inclusive government in Burundi to defuse the tension in Bujumbura and avert a possible resumption of a civil war.

The Minister also suggested that negotiations between Pierre Nkurunziza’s government and the opposition take place outside Burundi.

“We are saying let the Burundian government negotiate with the opposition so that they form an all–inclusive government,” Mateke told the Daily Monitor during an interview in Kampala last week.
There are fears the crisis, caused by President Pierre Nkurunziza’s insistence on a third five–year term in office, could degenerate into civil war.

Last Friday, 87 Burundians were killed in Bujumbura after an unidentified group reportedly attacked three military installations. The European Union yesterday called for the start of talks between Burundi’s government and the opposition.

“The dialogue under Ugandan mediation needs to begin urgently,” Ms Catherine Ray, the spokesperson of the EU High Representative and Vice President, Federica Mogherini, said through a press statement on Sunday, adding that the EU was ready to mobilise support to ensure a political solution to the crisis is found quickly.”

Last Thursday, Uganda’s Defence Minister Crispus Kiyonga, who President Museveni delegated to initiate talks between Nkurunziza and the opposition, told media in Kampala that Uganda hasn’t “seen the need yet”.

East African Community heads of state in July selected Mr Museveni to mediate talks in the Burundi crisis. He engaged the leaders for two days in July and later delegated Mr Kiyonga to do the work. Nothing substantive has so far come out of the negotiations.

US Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Linda Thomas–Greenfield last week told a US Senate panel that Mr Museveni is “very much distracted” by his re-election campaign.

Concerned with the violence in Burundi, senior United States, United Nations, European Union and African Union officials were in Kampala Last Thursday to talk about security in the region. They had a closed–door meeting with Mr Kiyonga at the Defence ministry headquarters.

The Daily Monitor

UM– USEKE.RW