UN Secretary General Visits Burundi as Violence Escalates
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UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon visited Burundi Monday to assist in the resolution of an ongoing dispute over President Pierre Nkurunziza’s third-term presidential win in July, according to AFP. Four people were killed shortly before Ban Ki-moon’s visit, but he intends to convince the president to open dialogue with his political opponents to stifle further unrest. The secretary general plans to visit South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo after his Burundi trip.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon visited Burundi Monday to assist in the resolution of an ongoing dispute over President Pierre Nkurunziza’s third-term presidential win in July, according to AFP. Four people were killed shortly before Ban Ki-moon’s visit, but he intends to convince the president to open dialogue with his political opponents to stifle further unrest. The secretary general plans to visit South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo after his Burundi trip.
Burundi is a powder keg ready to explode as violence continues, sparking brutal crackdowns from the government. Ban Ki-moon is traveling throughout parts of Africa to help resolve various political crises, and Burundi is no exception. The violence started in April of last year upon Nkurunziza’s decision to run beyond his official limit, and the instability resulted in the deaths of over 400 people and the displacement of 240,000 citizens.
UN officials fear that the increased violence could spark another devastating civil war. Burundi suffered through a decade-long war that took the lives of over 300,000 people, and the country has never fully recovered since the war ended in 2005.
UN Solution?
Though the UN has provided infrastructure assistance, supplies and food to the country, no one can prevent the possibility of a civil war; however, a mass genocide is unlikely, and the UN can play a positive role going forward as the international body retains strong support among leaders and the public. Burundi suffers from the same Hutu-Tutsi ethnic tensions that led to the Rwanda genocide, and UN officials can do little in the resolution of these age-old conflicts.
While the current situation in Burundi is a political conflict, analysts fear that long-standing ethnic rivalries could take center stage again while degrading the nation’s political and economic gains.
Burundi’s Economic Status
Between human rights violations and an unstable economy, Burundi is far from a flourishing country. Authorities rely on foreign aid to sustain the government, but the Central African country thrives in certain areas, most notably tea exports. Tea exports in Burundi skyrocketed over 50% in 2015 due to lacking output from Kenya, notes Reuters.
Tea is the second-largest source of revenue for Burundi after coffee, but the economy is mostly agricultural and a long shot away from becoming a strong emerging market. Investors cannot rely on Burundi’s agricultural economy to yield substantial revenue, and most of the country’s poor do not have the necessary skills to compete in the world economy.
Additionally, the government has failed to upgrade the nation’s infrastructure in an economy that remains poorly developed. Moreover, corruption is another factor, which hampers economic progress and prevents further investment.
