RUYIGI July 16th (ABP) – Burundi Senate President Emmanuel Sinzohagera has been since Tuesday the 13th in Ruyigi province (eastern Burundi) for a five-day visit, a check by ABP revealed.
Mr. Sinzohagera met on Tuesday, at the headquarters of the province, the administrators of the Bweru and Ruyigi communes, as well as the leaders of the political parties and religious denominations of those two communes. During the meeting, the President of the Senate called on the participants to get rid of all beliefs and behaviors likely to delay the development of the country. The challenges currently facing the fields of justice and education in Ruyigi province were discussed.
Mr. Sinzohagera said he made that visit to Ruyigi province at the moment of the parliamentary recess, which is done once every three months, to inquire about the daily life of the people in order to know their challenges and grievances, but also their opinions and suggestions regarding good governance in daily life. He reminded the present assembly that Burundi is currently in the midst of the fight against poverty and that everyone’s contribution is necessary for community and integrated development to be a reality in Ruyigi and in the rest of the country. He specified that respect for the law and professional secrecy, enthusiasm and love at work, setting goals to achieve in life, accountability of officials and credibility at work are the watchwords of the responsible and hardworking government. “It is no longer possible to hide behind political or ethnic parties to exploit the people,” he said.
The President of the Senate also called on the entire population of Ruyigi to respond massively to the topical activity concerning the search for the mass graves of the victims of the bloody events of 1972. “The goal is not to fan hatred within the various communities of the Burundian population, but to know the truth of what happened so that such horrific acts of killings do not happen again in the future,” he stressed. He thus encouraged all people who know the truth, the victims and / or those who would have participated directly or indirectly in those painful and sad events, to give their testimonies and thus enlighten the public so that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission can update the truth.
A fact of the day which marked more attention at the very moment of that meeting was the opportunity which was given to two former administrators of the Bweru and Ruyigi communes during the period of the massacres of April 1972 to give a living testimony about that tragedy in their respective districts. The two agreed that orders came from a higher echelon, in the civil and military administration, and that others seemed to be following a careful plan and both civilian and military offenders were in seriously sanctioned, and even murdered. Those former communal administrators have, moreover, publicly regretted the fact that a whole part of the population considers them and points the finger at them as being executioners and murderers of their families. They asked for forgiveness for all they did not know and were able to take an active part in ending that vile tragedy.
Mr. Sinzohagera urged the victims of those events not to globalize and see people who do not share the same political affiliation as enemies to be killed. Rather, he called on them to take advantage of this period to live a new era based on truth, understanding and political tolerance since it is not this or that other ethnic group or community that kills, but rather poor governance, he said.