At least 17 people, including two foreign journalists, have been arrested in a late night police raid in Burundi’s capital Bujumbura, a presidential spokesman said.

Willy Nyamitwe said in a series of tweets late on Thursday that officers arrested 17 people in the Jabe and Nyakabiga neighbourhoods, and that they recovered a cache of weapons.

French journalist Jean Phillipe Remy, the Africa bureau chief for Le Monde newspaper, and Phil Moore, a British freelance journalist and regular contributor to Al Jazeera English, were among those held.

In a separate tweet, Nancy Ninette Mutoni, described as a senior media and communications adviser to the government, said that a source confirmed that Remy and Moore were the two people identified as having ‘press accreditation’ by a police spokesman who announced the 17 arrests on state television.

Earlier on Thursday and before his arrest, Moore mentioned raids in the area in a number of tweets.

Burundi has been in political crisis since President Pierre Nkrunziza announced his intention to run for a third term in office in April, going on to win a heavily-disputed election  three months later.

Rights groups say that authorities have since cracked down on opposition parties, human rights activists and the media. At least 300 people have been killed  in intermittent violence during the crisis and 215,000 others have fled the country.

African leaders are scheduled to vote next week on whether to deploy a 5,000-strong African Union peacekeeping force to the country, a move Burundi strongly opposes.

In November, Robert Mahoney, deputy director of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a press freedom lobby group, described independent media in Burundi as being under attack.

“Many journalists have fled the country. Those who remain are trying to work but the authorities seem intent on preventing them from covering hard news. This must stop,” Mahoney said.

Stories Continues after ad

The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) has called for the commencement of a process of uniformly abolishing work and residence permit fees.

Yesterday, the Assembly debated and adopted the Report of the Committee on General Purpose on the petition to EALA regarding work/residence permits in the EAC for the citizens of the Partner States.

The petition was presented to the EALA Speaker Rt Hon Daniel Fred Kidega by the East African Trade Union Confederation and the East African Employers Association in March 2015. 

The EATUC/EAEO has made 17 prayers in their request including the harmonization of the standards and processes of acquiring permits as well as the future amendment of Annex 2 of the Common Market Protocol to review the roadmap for free movement of workers given the fact that the current one ended in 2015.

Furthermore, the petitioners want the new revised annex to put in place a tripartite mechanism (Employers, Trade Unions and Government) at the EAC level to be administered at national level through the tripartite fora.   The petitioners also want the standardization of the process of the work permits and the eventual removal of the permits.

EAEO with a potential outreach of over 8500 companies and business entities has also 100 associations and affiliates while the EATUC represents more than 2.5 million workers organised in unions affiliated to the national trade union centres, the regional apex bodies for employers’ organisations and national trade union centres across the EAC

Members who have contributed to the debate include Susan Nakawuki, Chris Opoka and Dora Byamukama (Uganda), Martin Ngoga, James Ndahiro and Christophe Bazivamo (Rwanda); and Hassan Mwinyi (Tanzania).

And presenting the report, Dr Odette Nyiramilimo, Chair of the Committee noted that a number of areas of co-operation and implementation of the Common Market Protocol remain in the remit of individual Partner States and called for advocacy to enable harmonization at the regional level.

The report was supported by among others Hon Valerie Nyirahabineza, Hon Peter Mathuki, Hon Bernard Mulengani and Hon Nancy Abisai.

The Minister for EAC, Uganda, Shem Bageine said the Council was committed to addressing all outstanding issues with regards to the Common Market Protocol and said Partner States had identified laws in the Partner States which need to comply to the EAC Laws.  Phyllis Kandie, Cabinet Secretary for Labour, Social Benefits and EAC Affairs, Republic of Kenya said her country was committed to fully implementing the Protocol and similar sentiments were shared by the Chairperson of the Council of Ministers, Hon Dr. Susan Kolimba of Tanzania.

Stories Continues after ad

The United Kingdom Minister for Africa, James Duddridge has said there should be no further delay to form South Sudan’s Transitional Government of National Unity in accordance with the August 2015 peace accord to end the war and alleviate the suffering of the people.

Duddridge, who visited the South Sudanese capital Juba, met President Salva Kiir, foreign affairs minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin and the armed opposition faction’s (SPLM-IO), chief negotiator Taban Deng Gai yesterday.

“In his meetings the Minister emphasised the UK’s desire to see the peace agreement fully implemented and urged the formation of the Transitional Government of National Unity without further delay,” a brief statement by the British embassy in Juba indicated.

During his meetings with the South Sudanese officials, Duddridge made clear his government’s position to both the nation’s leaders and the opposition.

“All South Sudan’s leaders bear a responsibility to their people to implement the peace agreement fully so the long and difficult task of rebuilding the country can begin,” he said.

Britain forms part of the Troika, comprising of the United States and Norway. The Troika sponsored the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) mediated peace process, which halted the South Sudan’s conflict that killed tens of thousands of people.

Last week, however, the Troika halted accommodating members of the armed opposition’s advance team, citing what it described as the lack of commitment from the two warring factions to form a transitional government.

But Duddridge said the UK would continue to support the South Sudanese.

“The UK has a long term commitment to South Sudan and we will continue to work towards the peaceful and prosperous future its people deserve,” he stressed, without elaboration on the specific support.

Duddridge also visited the United Nations base hosting hundreds of thousands of people seeking protection from peace keepers over the last two years.

“The UK is committing long term support to the South Sudanese people, along with emergency humanitarian assistance, to help the country recover after two years of conflict,” further noted the UK embassy statement.

It added: “Beginning this year, the UK is also committing over 250 UK military personnel to the UN Mission in South Sudan so it can more effectively support peace and security”.

Stories Continues after ad

The United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, Ms. Kyung-wha Kang, wrapped up a three-day visit to Eritrea today.

During the visit she noted the growing opportunities for engagement between the Government and UN partners and fruitful collaboration in implementing the Strategic Partnerships Cooperation Framework (SPCF) 2013-2016.

According to a January 27 release by the UN Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Eastern Africa and the Horn, ASG Kang also reiterated the readiness of United Nations development and humanitarian actors to work together with the Government towards the speedy conclusion of the SPCF for 2017-2020.
During her visit, ASG Kang met with Osman Saleh, Minister for Foreign Affairs; Yemane Gebreab, Head of Political Affairs of the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice and Presidential Advisor; Yemane Gebremeskel, Minister for Information; Arfaine Berhe, Minister of Agriculture; Ms. Amna Nurhusein, Minister of Health;  Semere Russom, Minister of Education and Kahsay Gerehiwet, Minister of Labour and Human Welfare. She also met with humanitarian, development and donor representatives.
The discussion dealt with the full range of challenges facing Eritrea, including human rights and the implementation of Universal Periodic Review recommendations (UPR), and the role of the United Nations and international actors in support of Government endeavours to meet basic needs and build the resilience of the most vulnerable communities in the country.
Together with the Minister of Health, Ms. Kang visited Serejeka and Gashnashm in the Maekel region, where she visited Government-led nutrition and basic health programmes that help thousands of children and mothers with the support of UN agencies.
“Programmes that provide supplementary feeding, immunization and nutrition surveillance are vital to reducing malnutrition and building resilience,” said ASG Kang adding: “Eritrea has made significant progress in improving child and maternal health, and I urge partners to continue supporting national and international efforts.”

Stories Continues after ad

Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza faces possible sanctions should he reject the notion of accepting peacekeeping troops into his troubled country.

Media sources quoted a senior African Union (AU) official as saying some African countries were pushing Nkurunziza to accept the troops but hastened to add ‘he is not expected to endorse the plan’.

This week the AU Heads of State are holding their Summit in Addis Ababa, and the UN has urged them to prioritise the issue of peacekeeping troops, agreed upon in December last year by the continental body, which planned to send 5000 troops to prevent Burundi from sliding back into ethnic conflict.

Burundi rejected the plan and instead engaged in shuttle diplomacy, the most recent being a meeting between outgoing AU Chairman Robert Mugabe and Burundi Special Envoy Maj Gen Everiste Ndayishimiye in Zimbabwe two days ago.

Last week, a 15-member UN Security Council delegation was in Burundi and left dejected after fruitless talks with President Nkurunziza, the US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Powers, who is also Council president, said and urged the AU to intervene to ensure that Burundi complied with its resolution on the deployment of troops.

Burundi slid into violence in April last year, following president Nkurunziza’s announcement that he would run for a third term, prompting the opposition to protest the move, saying it was in contravention of the Constitution that sets the mandate at a maximum of two five-year terms.

Stories Continues after ad