AF/C DIRECTOR WYCOFF GETS AN EARFUL OF BURUNDI'S

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUJUMBURA 000336 SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/C, LONDON, PARIS PLEASE PASS TO AFRICA WATCHER E.O. 12958: DECL: 2018/06/26 TAGS: ASEC EAID PGOV PINR PREL BY CG RW SUBJECT: AF/C DIRECTOR WYCOFF GETS AN EARFUL OF BURUNDI'S CHALLENGES REF: A. BUJUMBURA 291 ¶B. 2007 BUJUMBURA 837 Classified By: Classified By Ambassador Patricia Moller for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: During June 3-6 meetings with Director for Central African Affairs Karl Wycoff, Burundian government, NGO and civil society interlocutors said that: - the repatriation of significant numbers of refugees could help Tanzania,s government consider residency, citizenship and long-term settlement options for Burundians refugees; - government institutions, political parties and civil society need significant efforts to ensure free, fair, transparent and non-violent elections in 2010; - corruption at all levels of society and government is the greatest obstacle to foreign investment and economic development; - neither Rwanda nor the DRC trusts the other to be the "pilot" of any joint ventures; - cooperation and trust among Burundi's neighbors is crucial for economic growth and opportunity within the Great Lakes region; - the return of the PALIPEHUTU-FNL (FNL) to Bujumbura and the negotiating table does not necessarily usher in an era of peace and stability in Burundi. END SUMMARY. -------------- Refugee Repatriation -------------- ¶2. (C) In a June 4 meeting, UNHCR Representative Bo Schack thanked Mr. Wycoff for U.S. support for its refugee programs in Burundi. Mr. Schack noted that UNHCR and the Tanzanian government agreed that 2008 was the year to begin "closing the chapter" concerning Burundian refugees in Tanzania. According to UNHCR data, he said, about 23,000 refugees have returned from Tanzania in the first half of 2008, while some 40,000 came home in 2007. With an additional 300,000 refugees remaining in camps and settlements in Tanzania, Shack said that UNHCR expected another 90,000 to return before the end of the year. The repatriation of significant numbers of refugees and the closing of some camps might help create "political space" for Tanzania,s government to accept long-term Burundian settlements, many of which house Burundians who have been living there for more than 30 years, or were born and raised there. Schack said that this might lead, if not to full Tanzanian citizenship, then at least to a permanent residence program for Burundians in Tanzania. 
The East African Community,s (EAC) ambitious goals for freedom of movement among its member states, he added, could play a major role in reducing regional tensions. -------------- 2010 Election Concerns -------------- ¶3. (SBU) During Wycoff's joint meeting with journalists, civilian election monitors, the president of the Female Jurists, Association and the leader of an anti-corruption NGO, all guests agreed that the public is hungry for peace and development, yet stymied by lethargic, corrupt political leadership; that criminals apparently act with impunity as they are seldom investigated and rarely convicted; and that there is a strong need -- as mandated by the Burundian constitution -- to establish an impartial electoral commission well before 2010 elections. Interlocutors explicitly asked that the U.S. government pressure its Burundian counterparts to address these issues. ¶4. (C) Former Burundian President Sylvestre Ntibantunganya expressed concern over the upcoming 2010 elections and underscored that government institutions, political parties and civil society should demonstrate high levels of responsibility for and a willingness to ensure free and fair elections. Although Ntibantunganya dismissed the idea that the government would attempt to postpone the upcoming elections, his chief worries focused on the capability and character of Burundi,s leaders, the temptation for political parties to establish militias, and the partial influence of demobilized soldiers on the electoral process. Noting Burundi,s current political and economic fragility, Ntibantunganya also cited unfinished governmental negotiations with the rebel PALIPEHUTU-FNL (FNL),the need to implement transitional justice, and the prevalence of weapons within the communities as hurdles to overcome if Burundi is to avoid the recent electoral "failures" in Kenya and Zimbabwe. Ntibantunganya commented that the opposition political parties must put aside their differences with the government and work in collaboration with each other to end the legislative blockade which prevents the establishment of electoral procedures and continues to exacerbate the economic suffering of Burundi,s people. -------------- Economic Development and Regional Affairs -------------- ¶5. (C) Antoine Ntamobwa, Director of Foreign Investment in Burundi,s Ministry of External Affairs, told Mr. Wycoff that his country needs economic, political and social reforms to attract investors. Noting that his bureau has only been in existence for two years, Ambassador Ntamobwa said that Burundi still needs to establish sound legal codes governing investment, mining, labor and communications. He readily acknowledged that corruption from the lowest to the highest levels of society and government was the greatest obstacle to economic development. The legislation and institutions to combat these practices existed, he said, but the will to enforce them did not. He said that corruption stemmed from a short-sighted focus on immediate gains at the expense of longer-term projects and sustained investments. Ntamobwa also asked for help in educating the private sector about the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) as a means of stimulating Burundi,s export sector. ¶6. (C) Ambassador Venerand Bakevyumusa, Burundi,s Minister for Regional Integration and East African Community (EAC) Affairs, opened a June 5 meeting with Mr. Wycoff by stressing the DRC's importance in regional affairs. He noted that neither Rwanda nor the DRC trusts the other to be the "pilot" of any joint ventures. He urged the U.S. to pressure the DRC to "rediscover its neighbor" and reach out to Rwanda. Regarding Burundi,s role in the EAC, Bakevymusa said that his nation wanted to be more than just a market for other member states, and needed assistance to increase production by its private sector. He asked his visitor for U.S. government aid in paying the USD four million Burundi owes in EAC dues. Mr. Wycoff explained that it was not U.S. policy to give funds for such reasons, noting that this issue would have to be worked out among EAC member states. ¶7. (SBU) Bakevymusa described his May trip to Beijing and Shenzhen with other EAC government ministers as a search for potential donors. He said the journey was financed by Chinese NGOs and involved discussion of the EAC,s "great ambitions" to find assistance for constructing regional road, power and communications networks. ¶8. (SBU) Kenya,s Ambassador to Burundi, Benjamin A. M. Mweri, thanked Mr. Wycoff for the United States, assistance to his country during post-election violence in the early months of 2008. Regarding his Embassy in Bujumbura, which opened its doors in December 2007, Mweri said that Burundi was trying to "catch a running train" as it emerged from years of civil conflict and attempted to work with its neighbors in the region. He drew repeated parallels between Burundi,s fragile peace and the lessons learned from Kenya,s own political meltdown in January, and said that the international community must pressure the GOB and the rebel FNL to stay in negotiations. Concerning the 2010 elections, Mweri said that voter education and well-trained election observers would be crucial for success. In the longer term, he said that the communication barrier between Burundi and its English-speaking neighbors such as Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and (increasingly) Rwanda, could be addressed by language teachers from Kenya. Mweri told Mr. Wycoff that Kenya had sufficient manpower and was willing to cooperate with other nations who might pay the teachers, salaries. -------------- Criminality -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Concerning the recent rise in criminality, National Council for the Defense of Democracy - Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD) ruling party spokesperson Onesime Nduwimana denied that there is a link between increased violence in communities and political maneuvering for the 2010 elections. When Mr. Wycoff questioned if specific acts of violence had been directed at members of opposition parties or civil society groups, Nduwimana stated that there hadn't been any incidents of violence that could remotely be considered political in nature. Nduwimana admitted that the security situation has deteriorated throughout the country, however, much of the crime, he said, is committed at the lower levels of society. He also claimed that reports of crime are exaggerated by an irresponsible press and magnified, often erroneously, by rapid word of mouth transmission of news throughout the communities. Nduwimana said he hoped that during its upcoming session, the National Assembly will resolve various differences and will enact laws to establish the electoral commission necessary to ensure free, fair and transparent elections in 2010. He stated that Burundi wants to be a "model for democracy" in a region whose electoral successes have been tarnished by the events in Kenya and Zimbabwe. -------------- Return of the FNL -------------- ¶10. (SBU) Executive Representative for the United Nations Mission in Burundi (BINUB) Youssef Mahmoud told Mr. Wycoff that the return of FNL rebels from Tanzania to negotiations in Bujumbura in May (ref A.) meant that "we have repatriated the problem." He said that, overall, Burundi had come a long way in a very short time and that "sustained attention" from the international community was essential. Nonetheless, he stressed that FNL issues must be seen in the larger context of poverty and food security, and said that Burundi,s problems cannot be divorced from the region,s problems. -------------- -------------- Defense and Burundian Peacekeeping Efforts in Somalia -------------- -------------- ¶11. (C) Minister of Defense Lieutenant General Germain Niyoyankana expressed disappointment and pessimism about the status of the negotiations with the FNL. He informed Mr. Wycoff that party leadership has already violated the prinicples of the recent return to negotiations by allowing FNL party chariman Agathon Rwasa to travel to Ngozi in the interior of the country. Niyoyankana said "not one centimeter of progress" has occurred since the return of Rwasa to Bujumbura at the end of May and it seemed to him that the FNL doesn't intend to advance the peace process. Burundi, he said, is now in a state of "neither war or peace" and the FNL seems intent on solidifying animosities between the GoB and the rebel group. ¶12. (SBU) Niyoyankana thanked the U.S. for supporting Burundi's deployment to the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM). (ref B.) Niyoyankana said that although conditions are tough, morale remains high and his men are proud. However, the Minister of Defense complained that much of his equipment is of low quality and not equal to what other troop contributing countries have been provided. He urged Mr. Wycoff to raise these concerns with representatives in Washington to ensure that his troops are adequately supplied and outfitted. ¶13. (U) Mr. Wycoff has cleared this cable. MOLLER