Government of Burundi is yet to confirm its participation in the 5th and final round of the Inter-Burundian Dialogue that is aimed resolving conflicts in the country.
Since April 2015, protests have taken shape against the president’s decision to run for a contested third consecutive term. Since then, the security situation has deteriorated, with more than 400 people killed and 200,000 fleeing to neighboring countries of Uganda and Tanzania.
Although much of the violence has subsided in recent years, extreme poverty, lack of law and order and ongoing human right violations, as well as the difficulty of integrating former rebels into state institutions, continue to be major barriers to stability and sustainable peace in the country.
According to Ambassador David Kapya who remarked on behalf of the Facilitator, retired Tanzanian President Benjamin William Mkapa, there is no confirmation from the government of Burundi on whether they will attend the talks or not.
The talks that are being held at the Ngurdoto Mountain Lodge near Arusha, Tanzania have the goal of arriving at consensual roadmap towards the 2020 general election in Burundi.
The 5th and Final Round of the Burundi Dialogue, which will go up to October 29, 2018, will involve the Facilitator engaging political parties and political actors in arriving at the roadmap.
Amb. Kapya, a Senior Adviser to the Facilitator, said that retired President Mkapa had so far engaged with international actors to seek their assistance in bringing all the parties to the negotiation table.
Earlier in June, Burundi’s long-serving President Pierre Nkurunziza announced that he would not run for another term, easing fears of new violence in the impoverished country after a referendum on term limits. He was expected to take advantage of the constitutional amendment to participate in the next two presidential elections of 2020 and 2027.