By The EastAfrican

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African opposition figures are rallying behind their kind, Burundi’s CNL party leader Agathon Rwasa, who was controversially dethroned while he was on a trip out of the country.

The National Freedom Congress (known by its French acronym CNL), which was founded by Mr Rwasa in 2019, elected new leaders in a controversial meeting held on Sunday in Ngozi, north of the country.

Mr Rwasa first opposed the congress, then Burundian security forces deployed heavily, including barring and arresting some of those suspected of planning to disrupt it.

Nestor Girukwishaka was elected as the president of the CNL party for a five-year term. Mr Rwasa was away in Tanzania, attending a convention of the opposition party ACT-Wazalendo.

'Unlawful takeover'

The Pan African Opposition Leaders Network, a grouping of political parties in the opposition on the continent, accused the Burundian government on Sunday of working with “a few rebels from the Congres National pour la Liberte of Burundi,” as the CNL is known in French to “hatch a plot to unlawfully take over the leadership of the party from its legitimate and bonafide leader Hon Agathon Rwasa.”

“We expect Burundi and indeed all the countries in our Jumuiya [community] and the continent to be working to strengthen the state of democracy, rule of law and human rights and not to destroy it. Strong opposition parties are a necessary component of multiparty democracy and work for the benefit of the people, our subregion, our continent and the world,” they said in a joint statement.

The network’s members include Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua, Dorothy Semu, the new leader of Act-Wazalendo in Tanzania, former ACT Wazalendo party leader Zitto Kabwe, Chadema’s John Mnyika of Tanzania, Ugandan opposition chief Kizza Besigye and Yassine Fall of Senegal’s Pastef.

ACT-Wazalendo said in a statement that Mr Rwasa remains the legitimate leader of CNL.

“We call upon the Burundian authorities to refrain from the unjustified interference in the affairs of the Congres Nationale pour la Liberte or any other opposition group, and to uphold principles of democracy, the rule of law and human rights outlined in the East African Community Treaty,” said Mwanaisha Mdeme, Secretary for Foreign Affairs for ACT-Wazalendo.

Mr Rwasa has been Burundi’s opposition chief since 2020, seeking to challenge the policies of the ruling party CNDD-FDD. And ahead of the legislative elections next year, the new turn of leadership in CNL has raised concerns from opposition groups of interference.

Burundian authorities did not immediately respond to the allegations even though police unusually watched over the congress.

Party wrangles

The meeting also came at a time when the CNL political activities were suspended by the Ministry of Internal Affairs after divisions in the party leadership broke out in early 2023.

Read: Burundi suspends main opposition party

A rift ensued in the executive committee after Mr Rwasa nominated his wife Annonciate Haberisoni for a seat in the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala). The leaders accused Mr Rwasa of selfishness.

Burundi's parliament approved Kathy Kezimana as the Eala MP for CNL’s slot despite her party rejecting her candidacy. CNL told The EastAfrican then that Ms Kezimana was not on the list it fronted.

Mr Rwasa accused the Burundi government of interfering with internal issues of the party, citing that party members were being harassed and arrested to prevent them from conducting CNL’s activities.

This is not the first time Mr Rwasa has lost his leadership. In 2010, he boycotted the general election, citing rigging and lack of transparency by the electoral commission. He fled the country and stayed in exile for almost three years. By the time he returned, his then-political party FNL had been taken over by Jacques Bigirimana.

In 2015, Mr Rwasa coalesced with others to form the Amizero y'Abarundi (Hope of Burundians). It lost that year’s presidential vote.

In 2019, he created the CNL which came second after the CNDD-FDD in the 2020 election.