Burundi, the two-term presidency and the AU

E. Ablorh-Odjidja

May 06, 2015

Thomas Sowell writes, "You cannot take any people, of any color, and exempt them from the requirements of civilization ......without ruinous consequences to them and to society at large."

The same can be said about taking for granted a constitution of a country.

As we watch, Burundi is imploding.  And the AU sits and waits, while this country's constitutional requirement for a two-term presidency is being eroded.

The AU, as recent as April 22 of this year, held a forum on the subject of "security challenges facing Africa".  And you are left to wonder whether Burundi was even on the AU agenda for the forum that day.

There were about five active heads of states present at the forum.

Long before the AU met in April, there were strong signals that the current and outgoing president of Burundi, Pierre Nkurunziza, a fellow of the AU membership, was planning an unconstitutional power grab.

Burundi's constitution requires a two-term presidency. Nkurunziza however, wants to buck the requirement.  And surprisingly, Burundi's constitutional court has sided with Nkurunziza's intent.  And this has led to political unrest and citizens fleeing the country.

As said, the AU has been silent on the issue, apparently preferring to consider Burundi's presidential matters as one of internal affair, while at the same time preferring to call for a suspension of the pending June 26 election because of the problem of refugees fleeing the country. 

The AU, thus refuses to interfere in one area of Burundi's internal affairs, but is willing to call for the suspension of elections, which, ironically, is also an internal affair issue.

This call for suspension is a dodge because some members of this august body have already implemented their long term ambitions.  And the others who harbor the same but are yet to make the intent active; just as Pierre Nkurunziza has done.

Never in its history has the AU considered presidential longevity as a "security challenge" problem. 

Obviously, Nkurunziza exempting himself from the constitutional requirement is not considered a big threat to political peace and a boost to refugee challenges for the region by the AU. But he does.

The ruinous consequences of "exempting" himself and the AU disregard of the issue are on display in Burundi and spreading now, as have such neglects have always been elsewhere in Africa.

Burundi, sitting next to Rwanda, needs no reminder of civil unrest that happened in Rwanda in 1994, when the worse genocide known to mankind took place.

Burundi gained independence in 1962. In 1972 a Tutsi dominated army conducted a mass killing of Hutus. And in 1993 there was a reprisal by the Hutu majority.

Burundi has other troubles, mostly exacerbated by economics. It is listed as one of the five poorest countries in the world and the least "globalized" of countries, according to a global logistics survey in 2012.

It is a land locked country of some 10 million people. A country of mostly two ethnic groups, the Hutus and the Tutsis. Despite its size, it remains a powder keg of trouble for the entire East African region.

Pierre Nkurunziza, a Hutu, became president in 2005 under a constitutional agreement that granted him two terms in office.

As early as his re-election in 2010, the Tsuti opposition party suspected that Nkurunziza would seek to re-write the constitution to allow himself a third term in office.

And that is exactly what is happening now in the drive toward the June 26, 2015 presidential election date.

Nkurunziza, like many presidents in other countries in Africa, is bent on staying in office longer. 

His party, the dominant Hutu ruling CNDD-FDD party, nominated him earlier this year to run for a third term and the Burundi constitutional court has just upheld President Nkurunziza's candidacy, in spite of what the constitution says and with disregard for suspicion from the rest of the world on the matter.

The vice president of Burundi's constitutional court, Judge Sylvere Nimpagaritse, fled the country before the ruling.

Judge Nimpagarite has since revealed to The Guardian newspaper of UK that "most of the court's" seven judges believed it would be unconstitutional for Nkurunziza to stand again, but had faced "enormous pressure and even death threats to force them to change their mind."

At least, "four of the seven constitution court judges had fled the country," according to Aljazeera publication.

These happenings In Burundi do not give the impression of an independent constitutional court.

But the constitutional court with its statement, has given Nkurunziza a new lease on the presidency, just like spraying an expensive perfume to cover up a common bad stench.

"The renewal of the presidential term through direct universal suffrage for five years is not against the constitution of Burundi," the statement said.

Forget what "the renewal of the presidential term through direct universal suffrage" means and ask what happened to the understanding of the "presidential term" that brought Nkurunziza to power.

The idea that Nkurunziza was elected by Burundi's Parliament and the "universal suffrage" system for his two terms must not automatically promote a third term for the same president, in contradiction to constitutional requirement.

The Arusha Accord, which brought the Burundian Civil War to an end on August 28, 2000, had Article 7, item #3 which stated the following on the selection of the executive:

" She/he shall be elected for a term of five years, renewable only once. No one may serve more than two presidential terms."

This conclusion was passed on into the current Burundi constitution and the edict has already been anticipated to happen to every candidate for the presidency .The problem now is the candidacy of Nkurunziza who has already had his two terms.

This ought to be the concern for all, especially the AU.

It must be noted in passing that the main facilitators of the Arusha Peace Accord were Julius Nyerere and Nelson Mandela, individuals whose memory should be worth something; at least a veneration at the AU.

But irony of all ironies, listed among the cosignatories of the Arusha Accord was H. E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, President of the Republic of Uganda, himself; a man who has been in power since 1986!

Museveni and other presidents on the continent have exempted themselves from the ideal of the two-term presidency, the ruinous consequences of which opposite are beginning to show in Burundi.

The number of refugee fleeing Burundi is rising. The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) is said to put this at 40,000, the unrest caused is palpable and could also spread to other parts of the region.

A call forceful AU intervention is required; not only a call for  suspension of the election date but also a demand for Nkurunziza to step down immediately.

Whether the AU, with leadership like Mugabe and/or Museveni will have the moral backbone to ask Pierre Nkurunziza to abide by the constitution of Burundi is the next question.

The sincerity of the AU is on trial.

E. Ablorh-Odjidja, Publisher www.ghanadot.com, Washington, DC, May 06, 2015.

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