Uganda condemns coup in Burundi

KAMPALA- The Uganda Government yesterday condemned the reported overthrow of Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza by the army, saying the crisis would have been resolved democratically through dialogue.

“It is very unfortunate that the Burundi crisis culminated in a coup. The East African Community leaders had high hopes that the situation would be resolved politically through dialogue,”
International Relations minister Okello Oryem told Daily Monitor on telephone last evening.

He said the East African heads of State had converged in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, to find amicable solutions to the ongoing political crisis in protest of Mr Nkunziza’s third term bid.

President Nkurunziza was reported ousted by his former Chief of Intelligence services Maj Gen Godefroid Niyombareh after several weeks of unrest over his bid to vie for election in next month’s polls.

Disrupted
The news of his ouster set in as heads of State arrived in Tanzania for the EAC summit called to defuse the tension yesterday.

“African Union does not condone any military coup and Uganda as a country, we advocate for a civilian government,” Mr Oryem said.

Asked what lessons Uganda can draw from the Burundi crisis, the minister quickly responded that “none”.

“Uganda is very civil and its army can never do such a thing. We can never get a coup here in Uganda and any attempts in that direction would never be accepted by the civilians. Ugandans can never accept to return to such a situation,” Mr Oryem said.

Asked to comment about the fate of Ugandans in Burundi, the minister said: “They are all very safe and there is no need to panic.” He remained non-committal on whether Uganda had immediate plans to evacuate Ugandans like was the case when she responded to the crisis in South Sudan.

Third term critiques say the Burundi President should have exited according to the Arusha Accord signed to end violence in the EAC country in 2010.
Like Mr Nkrunziza, DR Congo President Joseph Kabila has attempted to seek a third term sending civilians into protests.

Article 70 of the Constitution limits the presidential terms to 5 years and are renewed once. Article 220 says presidential term must not be subject to constitutional amendment.

In Rwanda, President Kagame also hinted on extending his term beyond 2017 amidst calls that he respects the country’s Constitution that limits his two seven- year terms.
In 2005, President Yoweri Museveni who has held on to power since 1986 had the Constitution amended to allow for a third term in office.

History of Burundi coups

Burundi, a country of 10 million people, was founded as a kingdom in 1500s, but has been characterised by coups and assassinations of its leaders since it was declared independent.

In 1890, German East Africa Company incorporated the kingdoms of Urundi and Ruanda in their colonial exploitation plans. But Belgians occupied the area in 1916.

On its path to independence, Prince Louis Rwagasore won the legislative elections in 1961, but was assassinated shortly afterwards. In 1962, Urundi broke off from Ruanda, becoming an independent kingdom under King Mwambutsa IV.

The following year, ethnic violence among Hutu and Tutsi forced thousands of Hutus to flee to Rwanda.

Army chief Michel Micombero attempted an unsuccessful coup against Mwambutsa. It was, however, the king’s son Ntare V who deposed him in July 1966. Micombero would return to oust Ntare V, and declared himself president.

Micombero was also overthrown by Jean-Baptiste Bagaza in a military coup in 1976 and Bagaza was deposed by Pierre Buyoya in 1987. Buyoya spearheaded a new constitutional order providing for a multiparty system that was adopted in a referendum in 1992.

Melchior Ndadaye won multi-party polls ending military rule in June of 1993 but was assassinated in Ocotber 1993. In January 1994, Parliament appointed Cyprien Ntaryamira president. He, however, was killed the same year in an airplane crash in Kigali.

In October the same year, parliament speaker Sylvestre Ntibantunganya was appointed president but Pierre Buyoya seized power from him in 1996.

Buyoya would agree with parliament in 1998 on a transitional constitution under which he was formally sworn in as president.

In April 2003, Domitien Ndayizeye, succeeded Pierre Buyoya as president, under terms of a power-sharing transitional government, but in November, president Ndayizeye and Hutu rebel group Forces for Defence of Democracy leader Pierre Nkurunziza signed agreement to end civil war at a summit of African leaders in Tanzania.

Nkurunziza was elected president by the two houses of parliament in August 2005 and re-elected in 2010 in an uncontested poll.

Last June, he hinted on seeking a third term, a move opposed by the opposition. On May 6, 2015, the constitutional court ruled in favour of Nkurunziza. Protests followed the announcement on April 25. Yesterday, Maj Gen Godefroid Niyombareh, announced a coup against Mr Nkurunziza.