Burundi says expecting compensation from Egypt as AU chairman
Bujumbura, Burundi (PANA) - Burundi says it expects compensation from Egypt, as chairman of the African Union (AU), for alleged injustices under the presidency of neighbouring Rwanda, official sources told PANA here Monday.
This demand followed discussions between Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza and the speaker of the Egyptian Chamber of Representatives, Ali Abdel Aal.
The cancellation of the “unilateral decision” to send back half of the Burundian troops of the African peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMISOM) is among several demands made by the Burundian government to Egyptian president Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi, also the incumbent AU chairman, according to deputy spokesperson for the Bujumbura presidency Alain Diomede Nzeyimana.
“If such was not the case, Burundi would reserve itself the right to repatriate all its AMISOM troops,” said the spokesperson.
Bujumbura also wants the AU to stop being ‘manipulated’ by foreign powers whose hostility to Burundi is known to everybody, the presidential spokesperson said, pointing a finger at the European Union (EU).
EU countries decided to suspend their direct budget aid to the Burundian government, accused of lacking the political will to resolve the political and human rights crisis that surrounded the controversial violent elections of 2015.
“As soon as I return to the country, I will transmit the message of President Nkurunziza to his Egyptian counterpart and fellow brother Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi,” the Egyptian envoy promised.
However, the same sources said that Egypt was considering convening ‘in the days to come’ a meeting during which Burundi’s complaint will be analyzed together with the countries contributing in AMISOM troops, as well as their partners.
The decision by the AU Peace and Security Council late last year to withdraw 1,000 out of 5,000 Burundian soldiers on a mission in Somalia since 2007 was what sparked Bujumbura’s anger.
The repatriation of only Burundian AMISOM soldiers prompted Somalia’s President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed to pay a visit in mid-February to his Burundian counterpart Nkurunziza.
A joint communiqué issued at the end of that visit called for an ‘’emergency’’ summit of heads of state and government from countries contributing to AMISOM troops to better coordinate the withdrawal operation.
A new Somali army still in an embryonic state was to take over the AMISOM troops, without however any assurances of its capacity to face the Islamist threat of al-Shabab against the central power of Mogadishu and neighbouring countries.
The withdrawal of Burundian troops was however irreversible, as around 600 soldiers were forced to return back home as they were no longer recognized by AMISOM.
On the whole, the financial stake around the 22,000 Burundian, Ugandan, Kenyan, Ethiopian and Djiboutian soldiers who compose AMISOM is high, which explains the reluctance of contributing countries to repatriate their troops, according to observers.
AMISOM troops contributing countries are remunerated proportionally to the staff and equipment they provide.
According to observers, Bujumbura also criticized lobbyists, particularly the local civil society, that has been active over the past few months kicking against maintaining Burundian troops in peacekeeping missions abroad ”while security inside the country has deteriorated since the electoral crisis of 2015’’.
The same lobbyists demanded the sending in 2016 of Burundian peacekeeping soldiers in Central African Republic to suppress the uprising movement against the fifth presidential bid of 2015.
-0- PANA FB/IS/MSA/RA 1Apr2019
