GITEGA August 29th (ABP) – The Head of State, Mr. Evariste Ndayishimiye, sent an information message to the President of the Senate, Mr. Emmanuel Sinzohagera, to bring to the attention of the upper chamber of parliament, the decision to deploy the national defense force of Burundi in the province of South Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Mr. Sinzohagera, read it in full, to the members of the senate gathered in plenary, for that purpose, in their hemicycle of Gitega (center of the country), Friday, August 26, 2022, a check on the site by ABP has revealed.
According to that correspondence, the motivation for taking that decision is that the East of the DR Congo has known, for several years, a presence on its soil of groups of terrorists who continue to commit crimes, not only in this country, but also in neighboring countries. He adds that several conclaves of heads of state of the East African community have been organized to try to find a lasting solution to the security problem in eastern DR Congo. Mr. Sinzohagera reported that several decisions were made during those conclaves, especially that of June 20, 2022, he said. He said that the most decisive decision is that of the deployment of a regional military force of the East African community in that part of the DR Congo.
The government of Burundi took the said decision, in bilateral collaboration with the government of the DR Congo, and under article 255 of the constitution which specifies that “Within the limits determined by the constitution and the laws, only the President of the Republic may authorize the use of armed force (…) in the fulfillment of international obligations and commitments”.
The message specifies that the decision was taken after official consultation of the National Security Council (CNS), dated August 22, 2022, as prescribed by article 256 of the constitution and article 4 of organic law no. 26 of December 6, 2021 amending law no. 1/23 of August 31, 2008 on the missions, composition, organization and functioning of the CNS.