BUJUMBURA February 28th (ABP) – The President of the Republic of Burundi Mr. Evariste Ndayishimiye arrived on the afternoon of Friday, February 25, 2022, at Melchior Ndadaye International Airport from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where he had participated in the 10th summit of the monitoring mechanism of the framework agreement for peace, security and cooperation for the DRC and the region.
In an interview given to the press just on arrival, the Head of State said that the summit was an opportunity to analyze the state of implementation of this convention. According to Mr. Ndayishimiye, the participants in this summit were delighted with the fact that all the countries are doing their best for the return of peace, order and security throughout the region and especially on the common borders between these country. “We are also pleased that the implementation of the action plan announced by the United Nations as part of the strengthening of peace and security in the region is going well,” he added.
According to the Head of State, it was also a good opportunity for the Heads of State to assess the state of cooperation, to strengthen the inclusive dialogue of the political process in the region, while indicating that the current collaboration between Member States is unequivocal. In addition, the Head of State positively appreciates the progress of this summit because it was, according to him, the first time that such a meeting takes place without divergence. “Before, there were some states that tended to defend one or the other armed group, but now everyone is converging on the fight against terrorist groups but also the negative forces in the region,” he said.
The Head of State said that the participants at the summit welcomed the development of the situation for the peaceful resolution of the conflicts which linked Uganda and Rwanda with the opening of the Gatuna border, where they encouraged the two countries to continue the dialogue in order to clear up all the problems that remain.
Mr. Ndayishimiye also indicated that these authorities have positively appreciated the ongoing dialogue between Rwanda and Burundi to such an extent that the teams of delegates from the Ministries of Justice of the two countries are meeting to decide on how to transport to Burundi those who tried to overthrow power in 2015, in order to bring them to justice.
The President of the Republic also pointed out that they had to analyze the state of security and judicial cooperation for the fight against armed groups in the region. It is, according to them, visible that the DRC is deploying its efforts in the fight against these groups by strengthening dialogue between neighboring countries where Uganda and Rwanda are already at work to dismantle these negative forces on the ground. Congolese more mainly in the East.
To that end, Ndayishimiye pointed out that he took the opportunity to demonstrate the relevance of the physical presence of Burundi in the fight against these armed groups trying to settle in eastern DRC. To do this, they agreed that each time a criminal is captured, he will be directly transferred to his country to be tried.
On the issue of integration, the Head of State indicated that the summit participants appreciated the fact that there are projects between the States of the region, in this case the railway construction project which will unite Tanzania, Burundi and the DRC, where studies are almost complete for the Uvinza-Gitega section. And to add that there are also other joint electricity projects including Rusumo Falls.
In this regard, there is also another electrification project between the DRC and the Republic of Congo which consists of the construction of a hydroelectric dam where each country which would like to integrate this project is welcome. The participation of women and youth in the development process in the region was also on the agenda of the summit, according to the Head of State, where it was noted that a very significant step was taken at so much so that these two categories are currently integrated into the development process.