Burundi protests against Rwanda’s aggression before regional army chiefs

Burundi has officially protested against what they term as aggression by Rwanda before the 27^th ordinary Eastern Africa Standby Force(EASF) policy organs meeting in Kampala.

Speaking during the closing ceremony of EASF policy organs meeting in Kampala on  Friday, Emmanuel Ntahomvukiye, the Minister for Defence for Burundi reported to regional army chiefs and defence ministers of the aggression against them by Rwanda.

“Burundi has been this time the victim of an attack perpetrated by the Rwandan army on the night of 16 to 17 November 2019 in Mabayi Commune, province of Cibitoke, causing material and human damage,”Ntahomvukiye told the meeting at Skyz Hotel in Naguru.

“The government of the Republic of Burundi strongly condemns Rwanda’s despicable acts against Burundi. Burundi will not give in to provocation but will not tolerate such acts of aggression of this kind, either and will take appropriate measures.”

The Burundi Defence Minister mentioned a number of incidents in which they have been attacked by the Rwandan army and have submitted several complaints to the East African Community, African Union and United Nations to denounce the acts of aggression but they have not yielded any tangible results.

He said the Burundi government will continue appealing to regional and international bodies for intervention.

“The government of Burundi reiterates its appeal to the United Nations , African Union Commission, International Conference of the Great Lakes Region  and the East African Community to play their full role, particularly with regard to the respect and implementation of both international and regional conventions particularly in provisions relating to justice, peace, defence and security.”

He asked the organisations to break their silence on what he termed as hostile acts by Rwanda against Burundi.

“Such hostile acts constitute not only a threat to peace and security of Burundi but also to the entire great lakes region,” he added.

Following the November attack in which eight Burundian soldiers were killed when gunmen attacked their camp near the border with Rwanda, relations between the two neighbouring countries have continued to soar.

“Burundi avails itself of this opportunity to warn Rwanda against these repetitive and multifaceted attacks against Burundi and wants the international community to take note. In case of recidivism, the government of the Republic of Burundi reserves the right of legitimate defense,” the Burundi government spokesperson, Prosper Ntahorwamiye said recently.

However, Rwanda has dismissed the claims as being baseless and unfounded.

"The Burundi government has the habit of accusing Rwanda to be responsible for anything that's going wrong in their country. The current accusations, as usual, are not supported by any evidence," Rwandan Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta told Chinese media outlet, Xinhua in an interview.

These developments come at a time when the relations between Rwanda and Uganda are also not at their best.

Whereas Rwanda accuses Uganda of supporting dissidents against the Kigali establishment, the Kampala government says their counterparts from Kigali have sent several spies to Uganda.