Burundi crisis delays verification of borders with Tanzania

The ongoing political crisis in Burundi has delayed verification of the country's borders with Tanzania, a senior minister told the National Assembly in Dodoma.

William Lukuvi, Tanzania's Minister for Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development, said Saturday that ongoing political crisis in Burundi was hindering the ministry from verifying borders between the two countries especially in disputed areas

He told Parliament that the government planned to verify the borders in the 2015/2016 financial year but the work could not be carried out due to the political crisis which has engulfed Burundi.

However, Lukuvi was optimistic that the ongoing peace talks on Burundi would result in amicable agreements and allow the verification to be carried out.

The Burundi peace talks chaired by former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa took off to a shaky start in Tanzanian tourist city of Arusha on Saturday with some of the key opposition politicians missing.

Mkapa was chairing the negotiations for the first time after he was appointed as a lead facilitator by the East African Community (EAC) Heads of State Summit held in Arusha on March 2.

The minister said it was important to verify the borders to help resolve border disputes facing people living in the areas.

However, Lukuvi said the process to verify Tanzanian borders with Kenya had started, adding that a meeting between Tanzania and Kenya officials was held in March last year to discuss how to verify the borders.

He said in 2016/17 the verification of the borders covering 756-kilometres will begin by taking aerial pictures.

"We are also going to initiate talks with Uganda and Zambia over the same issue," he said. Endit