Mkapa rejected in Burundi

The latest effort to end Burundi’s dragging political crisis ran into trouble Friday as the opposition accused the mediator, former President Benjamin Mkapa, of siding with the Burundian government by accepting it as “legitimate”
What you need to know:
- Mr Mkapa has failed to get peace talks off the ground since he was appointed in March to mediate the crisis, which erupted when President Pierre Nkurunziza decided to run for a third term in office in April 2015.
Bujumbura/Nairobi. The latest effort to end Burundi’s dragging political crisis ran into trouble Friday as the opposition accused the mediator, former President Benjamin Mkapa, of siding with the Burundian government by accepting it as “legitimate”.
Mr Mkapa has failed to get peace talks off the ground since he was appointed in March to mediate the crisis, which erupted when President Pierre Nkurunziza decided to run for a third term in office in April 2015.
The last attempt at talks collapsed in July when government pulled out. Mr Mkapa arrived back in Burundi on Wednesday in a bid to convince Mr Nkurunziza to negotiate with the opposition, which the president considers a “terrorist organisation”.
At a press conference yesterday, Mr Mkapa urged the opposition to look ahead to creating “free, fair and credible elections” in 2020 and stop focusing on the events of 2015.
“I am in no position to determine the legitimacy of the government of Burundi. Elections were held, court cases were raised ... and they all said this is a legitimate process which has come to a legitimate conclusion,” he said.
“Ambassadors come here, they present credentials to President Nkurunziza. The Security Council resolutions recognise him as the president of this country, so what is this foolishness? We’re wasting a lot of time talking about an event that is all over.”
The main umbrella opposition movement, the National Council for the Restoration of Arusha Agreement and Rule of Law (CNARED) -- which is exiled in Brussels -- was furious and asked the United Nations to take over as mediator. Mkapa “has just put an end to this process, which constitutes his resignation and an admission of failure,” the group said in a statement.
Nkurunziza’s third-term run and victory plunged the central African nation into turmoil, with more than 500 killed in ensuing unrest. At least 300,000 people have fled the country.
A September report by UN rights experts recounted spine-chilling cases of torture and horrific sexual violence, mass arrests and disappearances and warned that “the crime of genocide also looms large.”
Burundi has a long history of violence between its Hutu and Tutsi communities, which led to a 12-year civil war that ended in 2006.
Bujumbura has reacted to the mounting criticism by cutting ties with the UN’s main human rights body and pulling out of the International Criminal Court (ICC), while slamming a “foreign plot” to destabilise the country.
And yesterday, Mr Mkapa said: “It is absolutely out of context and foolhardy to create pre-conditions on the mediation process. The government of Burundi is an equal partner. The presumption that it is not legitimate is wrong,” the former Tanzanian President told reporters at the end of his two-day consultations with key stakeholders here.
He said as the facilitator appointed by the East African Community (EAC) Heads of State, he was not tasked to talk on the legitimacy of the government in power.
He criticised those calling for the isolation of President Nkurunziza’s government on that grounds that it came to power through unconstitutional means.
“The legitimacy of the Burundi government is not a critical issue for now. All parties to the dialogue should focus on the future,” he insisted when questioned on whether the process was slowing down owing to some Burundians who are opposed to last year’s elections won by the incumbent president but boycotted by some opposition parties. He said the question the legitimacy of the Nkurunziza government would throw the reconciliation efforts by the regional leaders into disarray and deny Burundians their right to dialogue. (Additional reporting by AFP)