Transition to Peace Burundi 1993-2008 (eBook)

CHAPTER 1

BURUNDI CONTEXT AND CONFLICT

1.1. Introduction

This chapter explores the country situation and the series of events that have shaped the people, violence, and politics that influence the conflict and peace process. This is the environment where peacemaking, peacekeeping, and peacebuilding activities have been undertaken. Analysis of the country, violence, and events reveals a population struggling to survive, and manipulated by the political elite. The elite who have used, for decades, violence to maintain political control of the country. The context of the conflict and behaviour of actors in the conflict are keys for the engagement of actors in the peace process, the types of support or pressure to be applied, and the kind of strategy to resolve the conflict.

1.2. Geography

Burundi is located between 2˚ and 4˚ on the south latitude and between 29˚ and 31˚ on the east longitude. Rwanda, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic Congo of (DRC) border the country. The capital is Bujumbura, and the country is one of the smallest African countries at 27,830 square kilometres. It has a varied terrain ranging from savannah grasslands to rolling hills and mountains with elevations ranging from Lake Tanganyika at 772 meters to Mt Heha at 2,670 meters. It is a landlocked country with an equatorial and generally moderate climate. There is only a small natural forest area due to the extensive uncontrolled deforestation and soil erosion, attributed to overgrazing and the unchecked expansion of agriculture (Brennan, 2005, p. 13).

1.3. Population

The country has an estimated 8.9 million people (2009), making it one of the most densely populated countries in the world. The population is divided into three ethnic groups, Hutu (or Wahutu of Bantu descent) comprising 85 per cent, Tutsi (or Watutsi of Hamitic origin) being 14 per cent, Twa (or Batwa of pygmy ancestry) of 1 per cent, along with an estimated 3,000 Europeans and 2,000 Southern Asians. Although this ethnic mix is always quoted and forms the basis of power-sharing and ethnic division decision making, it is not reliable. Jean Berchmans Ndayizigiye, a Burundian Great Lakes region culture and humiliation researcher, has identified that the percentages used for the ethnic groups are based on a census conducted in 1934 by the Belgians.

The basis of the ethnic identity and division was not ethnicity but was the number of cows a person had acquired. In 1934, cows were more valuable than other Burundian products and a measure of wealth. Persons owning more than ten cows were arbitrarily classified as Tutsi. As a result, relatively wealthy Hutu suddenly became Tutsi, and some poorer Tutsi became Hutu. The Belgians issued ethnic identity cards freezing Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa social identities into law and ethnic groups. This classified the Hutu with relative deprivation, and they became strongly associated with poverty and powerlessness. The census set the percentage classifications that are still applied to Burundi today (Ndayizigiye, 2005).

The growth rate of the population is 3.3 per cent p.a, placing it among the top ten in the world. The birth rate is 41/1,000, fertility 6.33 children per woman, and an infant mortality rate of 59/1,000 live births. The average life expectancy is 52 years. The estimated median age of the population is 17 years old. The religious mix is 67 per cent Christian, 23 per cent indigenous beliefs, and 10 per cent Muslim. The official languages are Kirundi and French, with Swahili spoken along Lake Tanganyika and in Bujumbura. It is estimated that 51 per cent of the population can read and write (CIA World Factbook, 2009).

The 2008 UN Human Development Index - measuring life expectancy, education levels and the standard of living - ranked Burundi in the bottom group of low human development countries at 167 out of 177 countries and on the human poverty index of developing countries, it is classified as a least developed country, positioned at 81 out of 108 countries.1

1.4. Economy

Burundi is a resource-poor country where the services and manufacturing sectors are underdeveloped, and the economy is predominantly agriculture. More than 90 per cent of the population is dependent on subsistence agriculture. The economic growth of the country is dependent on coffee and tea exports, which, when combined, represent 90 per cent of foreign exchange earnings. The country has minimal mining but contains known mineral deposits of nickel, uranium, cobalt, copper, platinum, vanadium, gold, tin, and tungsten (Brennan, 2005, pp. 14-16).

The unfortunate economic situation of Burundi can be seen in the World Bank’s statistics, presented in table 1, which shows a GDP of fewer than 1 billion dollars p.a and a GNI per capita averaging USD100 p.a. Trade in 2009 was estimated to be composed of exports of USD55.6 million, comprising coffee (50 per cent of export earnings), tea, sugar, cotton fabrics and hides. The major markets are the U.K, Germany, Benelux2, and Switzerland. Imports of USD207.3 million comprise food, beverages, tobacco, chemicals, road vehicles, and petroleum products. Total external debt in 2007 was estimated at USD1.2 billion; this is 124 per cent of GDP. In comparison, the 2007 GDP percentage for economically stable countries like Canada is 62 per cent, United States 60 per cent, and France 67 per cent while the highly economically stressed economy of Zimbabwe is 241 per cent.

Table 1. World Bank Report statistics on the Burundi Economy

(World Bank, 2010)

1.5. Political structure

King Mwambutsa IV first promulgated the Constitution of the Kingdom of Burundi on 16 October 1962. Under Article 24, it allowed for the creation of a National Assembly and the Senate, stating the legislative power is exerted collectively by the King, the National Assembly, and the Senate. A Senate was created after the parliamentary elections in May 1965, with 12 senators being elected. The 9 March 1992 Constitutional referendum established a multiparty system. The structure was one whereby the President of Burundi is both head of state and head of government, in a proportional representation (PR) multiparty system. Executive power s exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament, the Senate and the National Assembly.

A Transitional Constitution was adopted on 18 October 2001. The document fuses the Constitution, adopted in March 1992, and modified in June 1998, with the agreement signed by 19 parties in Arusha, Tanzania, in August 2000. This was a result of the Arusha Agreement and efforts to end the conflict. A significant point in the Accord was sharing political power between the Tutsis and Hutus. Under the Arusha Agreement, a 3-year transitional government was established with each ethnic group-holding presidency for 18 months each.

The Burundi Parliament adopted a post-transition constitution on 17 September 2004, which was approved in a nationwide constitutional referendum held on 28 February 2005. The constitutional referendum modified the constitution to enshrine ethnic/political power-sharing based on Arend Lijphart’s model of consociationalism. Burundi uses a multiparty proportional representation system, thought to encourage peaceful conflict resolution and consensus making in politics. When formulated, it was hoped these combined elements would ensure that the politically motivated actions in the aftermath of the democratic elections in 1993, where the elected president was assassinated, and thousands were massacred, would not be repeated in the wake of the 2005 elections. They were not.

Under the 2005 constitution, executive power is exercised by the President of the Republic with assistance from the two Deputy Presidents. The President of the Republic is both the head of state and the government. The President is also the Commander in Chief of the army, and the guarantor of the National Unity. The President exercises the statutory power and the execution of the laws. The operative supreme law is the 2005 Constitution. The legal system is based on German and Belgian civil codes and customary law. The constitution empowers parliament to make organic laws as well as statutory laws to give effect to the constitution and facilitate the conduct of public life within the state. The National Assembly, together with the Senate, undertake the legislative function of the state. Parliament’s law-making function is not absolute.

The President may, on the advice of the constitutional court, issue a presidential decree that can become law. The extent of the modification is not clearly defined under the constitution. The constitution also explicitly incorporates key human rights instruments. Article 19 of the Constitution acknowledges the rights and duties proclaimed and guaranteed by the UDHR, the International Covenants on Human Rights, the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination against Women as integral parts of the constitution.

1.6. State leadership

Over the past four decades, there have been dramatic leadership upheavals, the abolition of the monarchy, and a repeated cycle of coup d’états and changing democratic or dictatorial governments and/or military rule. From independence and the assassination of the first elected Prime Minister, Prince Rwagasore (1961), there was a crisis in authority and leadership, resulting in six...