Ban Ki-moon's visit gives hope to Burundi
What you need to know:
During his tour, the UN boss met government and opposition leaders before holding talks with Nkurunziza on Tuesday.
Ban said all sides had agreed to “inclusive dialogue”.
A high-powered delegation of African leaders landed just two days after Ban’s visit.
Earlier plans to send AU troops failed when the country’s leadership threatened to treat them as invaders.
A significant change of tack last week saw the United Nations and the African Union make major diplomatic forays into Burundi in a bid to resolve the country’s problems without recourse to military intervention.
It was this new approach that saw UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon land in Bujumbura last Monday to meet President Pierre Nkurunziza and the opposition.
His objective was to hold talks aimed at ending a 10-month-old crisis that has hit Burundi hard.
During his tour, the UN boss met government and opposition leaders before holding talks with Nkurunziza on Tuesday.
Ban said all sides had agreed to “inclusive dialogue”.
“Burundi leaders must be ready to summon the courage and confidence that will make a credible political process possible,” Ban said before leaving on Tuesday.
AFRICAN DELEGATION
As a pointer to the global community’s determination to resolve the crisis, a high-powered delegation of African leaders landed just two days after Ban’s visit.
It was made up of South African President Jacob Zuma, Senegal’s President Macky Sall, Mauritania’s Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, c of Gabon and Ethiopian PM Hailemariam Desalegn.
During a January summit, the AU vowed to intervene in Burundi diplomatically.
Earlier plans to send AU troops failed when the country’s leadership threatened to treat them as invaders.
The AU then decided to support “an inclusive political dialogue”. It was with that in mind that the delegation landed in Burundi.
The interventions in Burundi came at a time unstable Central African Republic got a president. Faustin Touadera, a former PM, won the runoff with 63 per cent of the votes.
In Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni is faced with the tough task of proving his legitimacy following the recent general elections.
Unfortunately for Museveni, the polls — particularly the presidential ones — were roundly condemned as flawed and riddled with anti-opposition manoeuvres.
