GITEGA, February 6th (ABP) – Burundi Head of State Evariste Ndayishimiye urged, on Monday, February 5, the Burundians to be artisans of unity and avoid listening to the detractors of it. This appeal was made from Gitega, the political capital of Burundi, on the occasion of the commemoration of the 33rd anniversary of the adoption of the Charter of National Unity.
In his speech, President Ndayishimiye said that there were the colonizers who inoculated the virus of division within Burundian society through the creation of ethnic groups and the assassination of the hero of national independence, Prince Louis Rwagasore. This virus of division has also spread to the Burundian political class which has supplanted the settlers, he continued to say, alluding to the assassination of the hero of democracy, President Melchior Ndadaye, followed by mourning and tears.
We must come to terms with this painful past to reconnect with unity; source of the country’s hope to achieve the government’s vision of making Burundi an emerging country in 2040; and a developed country in 2060, said the Head of State. To achieve this, he recommended the culture of good governance in all institutions of national life with a view to eradicating the virus mentioned above. He also insisted on respect for the law because Burundi is a rule of law.
Those ceremonies ended with the national anthem and that of national unity. They began with the laying of wreaths on the monument of national unity by President Ndayishimiye and the representation of the diplomatic and consular corps accredited to Burundi. Various persons in authority were present at those ceremonies, among others, the vice president of the Republic of Burundi, parliamentarians, Cabinet members, senior executives of the country and people from different socio-professional categories of the new province of Gitega extended to the provinces of Mwaro, Muramvya and Karusi.