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Burundi elections: EAC must help out
Source: The EastAfrican (Kenya)
BURUNDI HOLDS
A CRUCIAL PRESIDENTIAL election this June, and one thing is clear: It is up to
member states of the East African Community to ensure that it is free, fair and
peaceful.
Some wishes
for the East African Community as we usher in 2010
Even though
Tanzania and Rwanda are also going to hold presidential elections, Burundi is a
special case, having just emerged from a devastating 10-year civil war. Despite
the current peace, Burundi is still fragile and ridden by ethnic suspicions; the
EAC simply cannot afford to see the country relapse into violence.
Having held
its first ever peaceful elections in 2005 and subsequently joined the EAC in
2007, it is vital that every member country of the regional bloc help Burundi
sustain peace and democracy.
Topping the
electoral challenges facing Burundi are insufficient civic education and delays
in the issuance of national identity cards and voting cards. The voters register
also needs more attention, resources and expertise.
It is only
last year that Burundi established an independent electoral commission, which
could lead to costly mistakes due to lack of experience.
Granted, the
challenge for the other EAC members is that some of them cannot be said to have
conducted free and fair elections. Can one expect these same countries with
manipulable systems to make Burundi a yardstick for future democratic elections
within the EAC?
Burundi is
facing several challenges in organising free and peaceful elections. The
provision on proxy voting — voting on behalf of Burundians in the Diaspora —
poses challenges of identification, registration and voting. Moreover, Burundi’s
laws are yet to provide for the regulatory mechanisms on the activities of
various players including security, electoral officials, the media, observers
and civil society organisations.
The history of
Burundi elections since 1961 shows that the party in power always loses
elections, but is often reluctant to hand over power and sometimes responds by
assassinating the winner. In 1961, Prince Louis Rwagasore of Uprona won the
elections that brought Independence, but was assassinated three weeks later.
Again in 1993,
the then ruling Uprona lost to the Frodebu of Melchior Ndadaye, who was murdered
three months later in a military coup. The assassination sparked off a civil war
whose aftershocks are still being felt.
In the 2005
election, Frodebu lost to the CNDD-FDD party, which comprised former rebels.
There was a general sigh of relief when outgoing president Domitien Ndayizaye
conceded defeat and pledged to hand over the reins of power to his successor,
Pierre Nkurunziza.
Other EAC
member states now have the duty to ensure that this democratic pattern is
entrenched. Peaceful elections for the second time in a row should bring about
lasting peace and security that in turn ensures economic recovery.
The people of
Burundi themselves have recognised that their economy has been destroyed and the
society fragile and they can only manage with support from neighbours, the
region and the international community. Burundi is a landlocked country that
needs access to the ports of Dar es Salaam and Mombasa on the Indian Ocean Coast
to export and import goods. The advent of the EAC Common Market will thus
definitely spur economic growth in Burundi.
It is
encouraging that the EAC Secretariat in November organised a three-day workshop
for the National Independent Electoral Commission of Burundi, that also offered
training to political parties, civil society, and other stakeholders in how to
participate in the civic and voter-education programmes.
Second, the
various heads of electoral commissions in other member countries have agreed to
form a caucus and work in close collaboration with the Burundi electoral body.
Burundi is
facing several challenges in organising free and peaceful elections. There is
the provisions on proxy voting—the voting on behalf of Burundians in the
Diaspora—who poses challenges of identification, registration and voting. Though
the initiative was good, it would require ample time to prepare, besides
financial requirements, human resources and logistics.
