Login to BlackFacts.com using your favorite Social Media Login. Click the appropriate button below and you will be redirected to your Social Media Website for confirmation and then back to Blackfacts.com once successful.
Enter the email address and password you used to join BlackFacts.com. If you cannot remember your login information, click the “Forgot Password” link to reset your password.
In Burundi, an influx of Congolese individuals continues as they seek refuge from the advancing M23.
In May, Burundi held a presidential election which was won by Evariste Ndayishimiye, candidate of the ruling National Council for the Defense of Democracy - Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD) party.
Ndayishimiye was hurriedly sworn in after the untimely death of president Pierre Nkurunziza in June.
Rights violations continue
The Council encouraged donor countries which had suspended aid to Burundi to continue dialogue towards resumption of development assistance.
A report by a UN watchdog in September said human rights violations were still being committed in Burundi, including sexual violence and murder.
The country was plunged into a crisis in April 2015 when Ndayishimiye’s predecessor Pierre Nkurunziza decided to run for a controversial third term, which he ultimately won in July 2015.
His candidature, which was opposed by the opposition and civil society groups, resulted in a wave of protests, violence and even a failed coup in May 2015.
Hundreds of people were killed and over 300,000 fled to neighboring countries.
The Dubai-based company with four employees came with an impressive-sounding dual name.
The article A captive audience appeared first on Stabroek News.
While Ethiopia decided to delay its election this year due to the pandemic, Burundi has pushed forward with the vote at all costs, with heaving crowds of thousands attending political rallies, with only buckets of water and soap available as a nod to the virus.
Burundi has not taken any measures to confine or limit the movement of the population, unlike most other countries in the region with the exception of Tanzania - where many fear the virus is also spreading out of control.
God loves Burundi and if there are people who have tested positive, it is so that God may manifest his power in Burundi,\" said General Evariste Ndayishimiye, the presidential candidate for the ruling CNDD-FDD party.
The UN and rights organisations attribute much of the violence to the Imbonerakure, members of the ruling party's youth wing which the UN describes as a militia, as well as the feared national intelligence agency which answers directly to the president, the police, and to a lesser extent the army.
In the eyes of the Hutu, who make up 85% of the population, Rwasa has as much legitimacy as a presidential candidate as the leaders of the other rebel group, now the ruling party.
Burundi’s ruling party candidate Evariste Ndayishimiye was Monday declared the winner of the May 20 presidential race with 68 percent of the votes.
Agathon Rwasa, leader of the main opposition National Freedom Council (CNL), garnered 24 percent of the vote, the Independent Electoral Commission (CENI) said.
Burundi’s first vice president and presidential candidate Gaston Sindimwo tweeted, “We take note of the results proclaimed by CENI and warmly congratulate the winner.”
However, the main opposition CNL questioned the credibility of the results in a Twitter post.
Seven candidates were competing in the race to replace President Pierre Nkurunziza of the ruling party National Council for the Defense of Democracy - Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD), who has ruled the country for 15 years.
In going ahead with the poll, Burundi joined a handful of countries that have managed to conduct general elections during the current coronavirus pandemic.
Yet the events that preceded the presidential, legislative and local elections on Wednesday showed that little had changed in Burundi’s political culture.
After financing the polls from her own resources, Bujumbura made it difficult for independent observers to monitor the conduct of the elections.
While lower than the toll from previous polls, the election process is yet to be concluded, until results are announced and new officeholders sworn in.
Widespread violence, including a grenade attack during the month-long campaigns, attest to the long road Burundi has to traverse before it can conduct elections whose outcome is seen as fair by all parties involved.
There are now more than over 80,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus across the continent, with a number of African countries imposing a range of prevention and containment measures against the spread of the pandemic.
According to the latest data by the John Hopkins University and Africa Center for Disease Control on COVID-19 in Africa, the breakdown remains fluid as countries confirm cases as and when.
As of May 13, every African country had recorded an infection, the last being Lesotho.
We shall keep updating this list largely sourced from the John Hopkins University tallies, Africa CDC and from official government data.
SUGGESTED READING: Africa’s COVID-19 deaths pass 1,000 mark
Major African stats: May 17 at 6:00 GMT:
\t
\t\tConfirmed cases = 81,608
\t\tNumber of deaths = 2,708
\t\tRecoveries = 31,122
\t\tActive cases = 47,778
Countries in alphabetical order
\t\tAlgeria – 6,821
\t\tAngola – 48
\t\tBenin – 339
\t\tBotswana – 25
\t\tBurkina Faso – 782
\t\tBurundi – 15
\t\tCameroon – 3,105
\t\tCape Verde – 328
\t\tCentral African Republic – 327
\t\tChad – 474
\t\tComoros – 11
\t\tCongo-Brazzaville – 391
\t\tDR Congo – 1,370
\t\tDjibouti – 1,331
\t\tEgypt – 11,719
\t\tEquatorial Guinea – 594
\t\tEritrea – 39
\t\tEswatini – 202
\t\tEthiopia – 306
\t\tGabon – 1,320
\t\t(The) Gambia – 23
\t\tGhana – 5,735
\t\tGuinea – 2,658
\t\tGuinea-Bissau – 969
\t\tIvory Coast – 2,061
\t\tKenya – 830
\t\tLesotho – 1
\t\tLiberia – 223
\t\tLibya – 65
\t\tMadagascar – 283
\t\tMalawi – 63
\t\tMali – 835
\t\tMauritania – 40
\t\tMauritius – 332
\t\tMorocco – 6,741
\t\tMozambique – 129
\t\tNamibia – 16
\t\tNiger – 889
\t\tNigeria- 5,621
\t\tRwanda – 289
\t\tSao Tome and Principe – 235
\t\tSenegal – 2,429
\t\tSeychelles – 11
\t\tSierra Leone – 462
\t\tSomalia – 1,357
\t\tSouth Africa – 14,355
\t\tSouth Sudan – 298
\t\tSudan – 2,289
\t\tTanzania – 509
\t\tTogo – 298
\t\tTunisia – 1,035
\t\tUganda – 227
\t\tZambia – 679
\t\tZimbabwe – 42
SUGGESTED READING: rolling coverage of the coronavirus outbreak in Africa II
Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza died on Tuesday a lonely man, having alienated himself from regional leaders, save for President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Save for Tanzania, which it shares a border with and depends on for imports, during his five years of isolation from his regional peers, Mr Nkurunziza maintained an open line of communication with Kenya, in what diplomatic chatter described as his “trust on Kenya’s leader’s apolitical stance” during the 2015 conflict.
A week after the failed 2015 coup, it was President Kenyatta who would maintain a direct line of communication with Mr Nkurunziza, conveying to him the thoughts of his regional peers, including asking for a postponement of the 2015 elections, a request the Burundi leader turned down.
After the election and solidifying his grip on power, Mr Nkurunziza’s key allies, including top military officials, ministers and key government officials, would take advantage of Kenya’s embrace, and have unfettered access to the country, including its healthcare.
On Tuesday, President Kenyatta said that the death of President Nkurunziza was a big blow, as it had “robbed East Africa of a leader whose contribution to the integration and progress of the region shall be sorely missed.”
Equatorial Guinea joins Burundi in the league of countries that have asked World Health Organization, WHO, country representatives to leave.
The AFP news agency reported the development citing a document from the foreign ministry and a source at the UN health agency The order to leave is allied to COVID-19 statistics.
Confirmed cases = 1,306
Deaths = 12
Recoveries = 200
Active cases = 1,094
\tStatistics by John Hopkins University valid as of June 3, 13:00 GMT
May 15: Burundi sacks WHO rep ahead of polls
\tBurundi in mid-May 2020 sacked the World Health Organization’s top official in the country just days before the May 22 presidential election and after the WHO raised concerns about crowded political rallies.
A foreign ministry letter seen by The Associated Press says the WHO representative to Burundi, Walter Kazadi Mulombo, has been declared persona non grata and must leave the East African nation by Friday.
The day that election campaigning in Burundi began late last month, images circulated online of crowded political rallies with President Pierre Nkurunziza in attendance.
A cloud of anxiety hangs over Burundi as the electoral agency continued counting votes days after Wednesday's election that is guaranteed to end the 15-year rule of President Pierre Nkurunziza.
The main opposition party, National Congress for Liberty (CNL), in a tweet claimed that vote rigging was ongoing, as the country awaited provisional results expected to be announced by the Independent Electoral Commission (CENI) on May 25 or May 27.
Burundi five years ago descended into violence after President Nkurunziza, who ascended to power in 2005, announced he would vie for a third term in office.
He decided to end his rule in this year's election and threw his weight behind an ally, Evariste Ndayishimiye, who is a former Minister of Interior and Public Security and currently runs the department of military affairs in the president's office.
\"These elections will go down in history as I am the only president who completed 15 years while in office,\" said the president in Bujumbura.
Major African stats: May 18 at 6:00 GMT:
\t\tConfirmed cases = 84,521
\t\tNumber of deaths = 2,759
\t\tRecoveries = 32,515
\t\tActive cases = 49,322
\t\tAlgeria – 7,019
\t\tBurkina Faso – 796
\t\tBurundi – 23
\t\tChad – 503
\t\tDR Congo – 1,455
\t\tDjibouti – 1,401
\t\tEgypt – 12,229
\t\tEswatini – 203
\t\tEthiopia – 317
\t\tGuinea-Bissau – 990
\t\tIvory Coast – 2,109
\t\tKenya – 887
\t\tLiberia – 226
\t\tMadagascar – 304
\t\tMalawi – 70
\t\tMali – 860
\t\tMauritania – 62
\t\tMorocco – 6,870
\t\tMozambique – 137
\t\tNiger – 904
\t\tNigeria- 5,959
\t\tRwanda – 292
\t\tSenegal – 2,480
\t\tSierra Leone – 505
\t\tSomalia – 1,421
\t\tSouth Africa – 15,515
\t\tSouth Sudan – 290
\t\tTogo – 301
\t\tTunisia – 1,037
\t\tZambia – 753
\t\tZimbabwe – 44
[Citizen] Burundi on Monday said it would reopen its Kobero-Kabanga and Mugina borders with Tanzania, which were closed due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
The Ministry of Health has registered 14 new cases of Covid-19 pushing the country's tally to 679.
These are out of the 2,321 samples tested on Wednesday from border points of entry and the community.
Six out of the new cases are from truck drivers who arrived from Elegu and Mutukula border points with one who arrived through Lamwo District.
The other eight are from alerts and contact to previously confirmed cases.
Also, 30 truck drivers from Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi and Eritrea were handed back to their respective countries of origin upon testing positive for the virus.
His Excellency Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the Republic of South Africa and Chairperson of the African Union, has expressed his sadness at the untimely passing of Burundian President His Excellency Pierre Nkurunziza.
President Ramaphosa has expressed his sincere condolences to the Government and people of Burundi at the loss of the leader who served Burundi as the second democratically elected President and the first President after the civil war.
President Ramaphosa said: \"Burundi and all of Africa have lost a leader who was devoted to people-centered sustainable development, self-reliance, the sovereignty of his people and country, as well as peace on the Continent.
President Ramaphosa recalled the sound bilateral relations between South Africa and Burundi, under which South Africa played a key role in the AU-led Burundi Peace Process which led to the signing of the Arusha Peace Accords in 2000.
These covered among others, the following:
President Ramaphosa called on the people of Burundi to maintain calm and peace in their country following the passing of President Nkurunziza and in the aftermath of the recently concluded Presidential, Legislative and Municipal Elections.
June 13: Incoming president eulogizes Nkurunziza
\tBurundi’s president-elect Evariste Ndayishimiye today visited the presidency where he signed a book of condolence opened for the late president Pierre Nkurunziza.
READ MORE: Pierre’s zigzag – Burundi’s cyclist, controversially sporty president
June 11: Cabinet meeting resolutions
\tBurundi’s cabinet issued a statement after an extraordinary session to discuss the way forward in a post-Nkurunziza era.
VIDEO
June 11: Burundi cabinet wants apex court to declare presidency vacant
\tBurundi will seek constitutional interpretation on how to proceed over the power vacuum created by the death of president Pierre Nkurunziza on June 8.
Cabinet wants the court “to declare the vacancy of the post of President of the Republic following the death of Pierre Nkurunziza,” a tweet by the VP’s office said.
In the issuance of condolences to the government, Chad for instance addressed its official message to Vice-President Simdimwo whiles the Botswana president addressed his message to Pascal Nyabenda referring to him as President of National Assembly and Acting President of Burundi.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and growing tensions in the country, Burundi will, on Wednesday, hold general elections.
The small African country of the Great Lakes region and its 11 million inhabitants are trying to emerge from a deadly political crisis born of President Nkurunziza’s controversial candidacy for a third term in April 2015.
Unlike Ethiopia, which postponed its August elections because of the COVID-19, Burundi has decided to maintain them at all costs, like Mali, Benin, and Malawi.
The country, which could face a major health crisis, is preparing to turn the page on Nkurunziza, whose last years in power were marked by massive human rights violations that left at least 1,200 people dead, according to a UN report released in 2017, and pushed some 400,000 people into exile at the height of the crisis.
A man of the seraglio who is apparently not as tough as his mentor Nkurunziza, of whom he is presented as the “Heir”, Mr. Ndayishimiye is a favourite in Wednesday’s election in view of the omnipotence of the ruling party.
African Union (AU) chair President Cyril Ramaphosa has sent condolences to the people of Burundi after the passing of their outgoing president, Pierre Nkurunziza.
\"It was under the leadership of President Nkurunziza that Burundi became one of the major troop-contributing countries in the African Union Mission in Somalia.
The South African president recalled what he said were sound bilateral relations between South Africa and Burundi, under which South Africa played a key role in the AU-led Burundi peace process, which led to the signing of the Arusha Peace Accords in 2000.
\"A memorable last state visit undertaken by President Nkurunziza to South Africa was in November 2014, at which a number of bilateral agreements were signed,\" Ramaphosa said.
Nkurunziza will be succeeded by Evariste Ndayishimiye, who secured a seven-year term as president - a result confirmed by the Constitutional Court last Thursday.
On 25 April 2020, exactly five years after Pierre Nkurunziza announced he would run for a third term, I attended the virtual screening of a new documentary.
The Burundian survivors interviewed share one thing in common: they all lived in neighborhoods that actively protested against Nkurunziza's third term in 2015 and were raped by security forces in retaliation.
My family and I prayed for the wife and children Nkurunziza leaves behind tonight.
I cry for the country we could have had these past five years; for the blood that could have been spared; for the memories families could have built together; for the amputated limbs of our young protestors; for the elderly who walked kilometres to end their lives in refugee camps; for the million little broken pieces so many of us have become.
Nkurunziza may find peace in death, but his victims will live with the wounds of his rule for the rest of their lives.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame has suspended two provincial governors as part of an ongoing purge targeting public servants deemed to be lacking accountability.
Southern Province Governor Brigadier General Emmanuel Gasana and his Northern Province counterpart Gatabazi Jean Marie Vianney have been pushed out pending investigations into their performance.
\"The President has suspended from duty Mr Gasana Emmanuel, Governor of Southern Province and Mr Gatabazi Jean Marie Vianney, Governor of Northern Province owing to matters of accountability under investigation,\" a Monday statement by the Prime Minister said.
During a tour of the province early this year, President Kagame warned that local leaders will be held accountable should they not deliver services.
Lawmakers have welcomed the move by President Kagame to hold \"the big fish\" accountable, and are calling for thorough investigations of those who suspended and the findings made public.
