Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08BUJUMBURA336
2008-06-27 09:23:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Bujumbura
Cable title:  

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

Tags:  ASEC EAID PGOV PINR PREL BY CG RW 
pdf how-to read a cable
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P 270923Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY BUJUMBURA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1020
INFO RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 0009
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0023
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
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).

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