East African leaders to mediate Burundi crisis

Ministers of East African Community Affairs from member states on Monday agreed to use the EAC eminent persons and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Committee of Elders to resolve the ongoing crisis in Burundi.

They reached the agreement at their emergency meeting in Arusha, which was hosted by the chairperson of the EAC Council of Ministers and Tanzania's minister of East African Cooperation Harrison Mwakyembe.

The meeting was called following the directives issued by the EAC heads of the state at their extraordinary summit held on May 13 in Dar es Salaam.

Briefing reporters here, EAC Secretary General Richard Sezibera said the two trading blocs' elders will urgently visit Bujumbura to continue with consultations with all actors and thereafter report to the summit.

The Secretary General said the elders will be led by Tanzania's Former Prime Minister Joseph Warioba.

The chairperson of the Council of Ministers and Secretary General will urgently visit Burundi to assess the situation on the ground, Sezibera said, disclosing that ministers of the trading bloc and cabinet secretaries will also visit refugee camps hosting refugees from Burundi both in Tanzania and Rwanda to assess the humanitarian situation in the camps.

The Burundian capital Bujumbura has been hit by a wave of political dissent over the past three weeks after President Pierre Nkurunziza said he would seek a third term in office.

It is estimated that more than 105,000 Burundians have fled the country, with 70,000 crossing into Tanzania alone, since the political crisis began in neighboring Burundi. Around 26,300 Burundians have entered Rwanda, most of whom are now living in the Mahama refugee camp. Endi