The last two member countries to join the East African Community were also geographically the smallest, with the smallest populations and the smallest economies. Rwanda and Burundi also spoke the “wrong” official language — French.

As if all that were not discouraging enough, they came with the most scary politics. Even Ugandans with their bloody history wondered quietly whether these were suitable partners.

Many Tanzanians, unable to fathom how people can slaughter others en masse because of a tribe, wondered why the two major groups — Hutu and Tutsi — were not allocated the two territories accordingly: One country for Hutu and one for Tutsi.

In a short time, Rwanda asserted itself, defined its new character and earned everyone’s respect. You did not have to like Kigali, but you could not afford to disrespect the new Rwanda, which soon came to be viewed as the most serious administration in the five-member community.

But Burundi remained a hard one to figure out. Its East African neighbours and South Africa had to spend years working out a government formula for them. The rapid infrastructural development in Rwanda did not rub off southwards.

On my last visit to Bujumbura a couple of years back, the ride to the airport left me puzzled. We seemed to be driving into a swampy valley and the wetlands on either side of the road in some sections looked like they would flood the road and the runway after prolonged rains.

After the final departure lounge, right upto the final gate to the tarmac, with no further security check left, they still sold food with steel cutlery, in these days of terror consciousness.

And so, after years of looking for something to be envious of Burundi about, it came with the attempted coup last week. If you missed the photo of the second in command of the coup plotters just after he was arrested, look for it.

The young general looked barely out of his teens, and his white vest with fresh dust on it over combat trousers looked just in place. What was most striking for me though were the beautiful handcuffs he was wearing. I swear, these Barundi have the most beautiful handcuffs in East Africa. The rich white piece looked like it was curved out of ivory.

On that, the Burundi authorities have earned my respect. I think if you are to put handcuffs on a fellow human being, they may as well look nice and fashionable, not like something crudely crafted for restraining a beast.

I have seen photos of suspects all over East Africa trying to hide their handcuffs in embarrassment. If you are attached to another suspect, you get very close so that the handcuffs are not caught by the cameras.

If you are alone, someone sympathetically throws an item of clothing on your handcuffs for you. But the cuffs that were seen on the Number Two coup leader looked like the type that don’t make you ashamed to be seen wearing them.

The Burundians also showed another touch of class when the president they had overthrown just went back to the country to reclaim his office. Maybe the knowledge that the type of handcuffs they would put on him were he to fail to re-enter office were not that crude also encouraged him to return home, a feat no other country’s deposed president would attempt.

Joachim Buwembo is a Knight International Fellow for development journalism. E-mail: [email protected]