Burundi elections: EAC must help out

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.

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.

Secondly, the Burundi laws are yet to provide for the regulatory mechanisms on the activities of various players including security, electoral officials, media, observers and civil society organizations. The other challenge is the decision to conduct different categories of elections on different dates over a period of time. This could be expensive, cumbersome, and cause voter-fatigue.