BUJUMBURA May 31st (ABP) – The President of the Republic of Burundi, Mr. Evariste Ndayishimiye, accompanied by his better half, Mrs. Angeline Ndayishimiye, returned home on Sunday, May 29, 2022, from the Republic of Equatorial Guinea. He had participated in the extraordinary summit of Heads of State of the African Union (AU), held in Malabo.
Mr. Ndayishimiye said, during an interview given to the press right after he got off the plane, that two important items were on the agenda: the humanitarian issue and the establishment of the Humanitarian Agency in Africa, the terrorism and the unconstitutional change of institutions that have become a scourge in Africa.
He pointed out that during the same summit, the Heads of State bitterly noted that all African countries are suffering from the effects of terrorism, conflict but also disasters.
Some countries receive refugees, others receive repatriates and deal with disaster management, hence the need to set up a contribution framework for each country, intended to resist against these disasters, he added.
Thus, he continued to say that the African humanitarian agency which will intervene in the event of a disaster was, on that occasion, established.
According to President Ndayishimiye, it was noted during the summit that terrorism tends, more and more, to become generalized throughout Africa.
In this regard, African countries must show solidarity in order to curb these terrorist groups which are undermining the development of Africa, he said.
The Heads of State have noted that there is no longer any reason for there to be launching a rebellion or a liberation movement in a country with a democratic system.
On the issue of unconstitutional changes to democratically elected regimes, the Heads of State agreed to follow this issue closely given that these coup movements are at the same time drawing back the development in Africa and the strengthening of democratic culture.
To that end, it was decided that a ministerial committee responsible for intervening whenever issues related to terrorism and unconstitutional changes of regimes arise, be set up as soon as possible.
The top leader of Burundi also pointed out that the Heads of State energetically condemned the resumption of hostilities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at a time when the countries of the region had already found a way out. Thus, that issue was entrusted to the International Conference on the Great Lakes Regions (ICGLR), which will manage it while hoping that a lasting solution will be found as soon as possible.
According to the Head of State, on the sidelines of the summit, he had the opportunity to meet the President of Equatorial Guinea, where they had to assess, together, the progress of the implementation of the cooperation agreements signed between Burundi and that country. They noted that progress is steady but that there is an urgent need for the agreement on labor exchanges to advance more than the others and that the agricultural sector would be prioritized. To do this, the Burundian Minister of Agriculture will have to go there as soon as possible in order to discuss with his Guinean counterpart about and conclude concrete actions for the implementation of the protocol on labor exchanges.
The President of the Republic also specified that he also met with the South African President to analyze the state of bilateral relations between Burundi and South Africa, but also to discuss the Burundi’s membership to the Southern African Development Community (SADEC), given that he is an important person high in authority within the community.
Mr. Ndayishimiye added that he told him about the state of progress, where the commission in charge of Burundi’s accession has finished its work and that the next session of Heads of State is awaited to decide the accession of Burundi.
On the sidelines of the summit, the first ladies of Africa were gathered to evaluate the peace mission of the first ladies of Africa (MIPREDA) where they had the opportunity to present their report to the Heads of State.
During that meeting, the Burundian first lady, Mrs. Angeline Ndayishimiye, was elected Deputy Chairperson of that organization, President Ndayishimiye told the press.