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Bujumbura, 2008-04-01 (Burundi Réalités Agence Presse) - There were protests today as the government was trying to demobilise more than 900 troops. Candidates to the demobilisation gathered this morning on the football pitch of Muha camp located in Bujumbura. Only about 200 volunteers to the demobilisation accepted to go to the demobilisation centre of Gitega. Others refused to go there on the ground that this demobilisation is spangled with irregularities. 18 officers and 169 sub-officers are part of this first group of candidates to the demobilisation composed of 916 troops.
The candidates to the demobilisation demanded the presence of the first Vice-President of the Republic or the minister of defence to give further explanations.
This demobilisation process is gradually getting politicised as the government hastens its move to scale down the total number of the National Defence Force to 25,000 troops as recommended by the Breton Woods’ institutions. Today, the forum of members of parliament loyal to Hon Hussein Radjabu issued a statement where they demanded the President of the Republic to treat this very sensitive issue with transparency and wisdom.‚ ‚It is a very sensitive issue on the ethnic and regional sides,‚ said Hon Kampayano Pascaline, spokesperson for the group.
On 27 March, the spokesman for the President of the Republic, Mr Léonidas Hatungimana, made it clear that the government has plans to demobilise half of the troops to be demobilised before 31 March 2008 to comply with the recommendations of donors. According to Mr Léonidas Hatungimana, the scaling down of the police and army forces to the agreed numbers was a condition for the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to write off an estimated US$1.5 billion debt that Burundi owes to donors.
The government of Burundi has not succeeded to demobilise troops as it had planned despite its repeated moves to overcome obstacles which emerged with the recent census in the police and the army. Recently, the spokesman for the National Defence Force, Col Adolphe Manirakiza, said that after the demobilisation of the first group, the army should deeply reassess irregularities that arose in the recent census.
The government of Burundi has chosen to proceed with this phase of demobilisation at a time when all indicators show the situation is very delicate. Apart from the demobilisation of a part of the ex-Burundian army troops, the completion of the final phase of the peace process between the government and PALIPEHUTU-FNL is due in June 2008.
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