Burundi Political Profile from 1962

BURUNDI’S FACTS

Burundi is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country has recently experienced a number of ethnic wars, which has left many unaccompanied children, orphans and widows with minors in hardship. According to various humanitarian agencies and United Nations International Commission of Inquiry for Burundi, children, orphans and widows with minors are most vulnerable people . 

The research also shows that Burundian minors are exposed to worst forms of abuse such as forced labor, debt bonding, sexual exploitation and other social degradation.

We have chosen to bring the awards about the struggle of the most vulnerable and orphans kids in East Africa. Due to the different rebel groups in the region, some children are also exposed on illicit activities including organised burglary, drug abuse and other social . While East Africa Country /government and humanitarian organizations are always trying to help its people, there are still enormous challenges, and many unaccompanied children, widows with minors and orphans are still facing many social challenges, and many more face psychological and wellbeing problems that impede them to continue their education.


Burundi Political Profile from 1962

Political System: Emerging Democracy

President: Pierre Nkurunziza (CNDD-FDD) [since 26 August 2005; elected 2005, re-elected 2010] The President is elected by direct popular vote for a 5-year term.

Parliament: [bicameral].

Senate : (49 Seats) 34 members (2 from each province) are indirectly elected by communal councilors, 3 members are from the ethnic Twa minority, 4 former presidents, and 8 co-opted members appointed to ensure that gender (at least 30% women) quotas are met; members serve 5-year terms.

National Assembly:  (106 Seats) 100 members are elected by direct popular vote in multi-member constituencies using the party-list proportional representation system, 6 members are co-opted to ensure that constitutionally mandated ethnic (60% Hutu-40% Tutsi, and 3 Twa) and gender (at least 30% women) quotas are met; members serve 5-year terms.

Electoral Authority: National Independent Electoral Commission.

POLITICAL SITUATION SINCE INDEPENDENCE

1962-1966 : Emerging Democracy
1966-1974 :  Military Regime & One Party State (UPRONA)
1974-1976 : One Party State (UPRONA)
1976-1979 : Military Regime
1979-1987 : One Party State (UPRONA)
1987-1992 : Military Regime & One Party State (UPRONA)
1992-1993 : Multiparty Transition
1993  :       Democracy ( but the 1st democratic elected president was killed in two months after his inauguration)
1993-1996 : Restricted Democratic Practice
1996  :       Military Regime
1996-2001 : Restricted Democratic Practice
2001-2005:  Transitional Government
2005-2010:  Democracy
2010-  2013    Emerging Democracy

2012 November - Murundi People's Front Abatabazi becomes sixth rebel group to launch attacks on government forces from across the DRCongolese border since the disputed presidential election, adding to fears of a return to civil war.

2013 June - President Nkurunziza approves new media law which critics condemn as an attack on press freedom. Law forbids reporting on matters that could undermine national security, public order or the economy.

2013 August - The leader of the former rebel FML, Agathon Rwasa, resurfaces after three years in hiding and says he will stand in the 2015 presidential election.

2014 January - Burundi deploys a battalion of troops to Central African Republic, as part of an international effort to prevent a descent into civil war there.

2014 March - Several opposition supporters are jailed for life for attending an illegal demonstration.
Parliament blocks a government attempt to introduce changes to the constitution which would have threatened the balance of power between the country's main ethnic groups.

2014 April - Burundi orders a senior UN official to leave the country after a UN report warns that the government is arming its young supporters ahead of next year's elections, a claim which the government denies.

2014 June - Burundi gets into trouble again for the presidential third term - coup d'etta attempted (failed) and  violence 

2014 July - Parliament passes a bill to curb the proliferation of churches in the country. A survey last year found there were 557 denominations practising in Burundi.

2014 October - Burundian opposition leader Leonce Ngendakumana sentenced to a year in prison for slander, in what he describes as a political trial ahead of next year's election.

2015: Election and  fail coup d'Etat, more details to be provided soon

Burundi’s facts

Burundi is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country has recently experienced a number of ethnic wars, which has left many unaccompanied children, orphans and widows with minors in hardship. According to various humanitarian agencies and United Nations International Commission of Inquiry for Burundi, children, orphans and widows with minors are most vulnerable people .

The research also shows that Burundian minors are exposed to worst forms of abuse such as forced labor, debt bonding, sexual exploitation and other social degradation.

Due to the different rebel groups in the region, some children are also exposed on illicit activities including organized burglary, drug abuse and other social . While Burundi government and humanitarian organizations are always trying to help its people, there are still enormous challenges, and many unaccompanied children, widows with minors and orphans are still facing many social challenges, and many more face psychological and wellbeing problems that impede them to continue their education.



Burundi Political Profile from 1962

Political System: Emerging Democracy

President: Pierre Nkurunziza (CNDD-FDD) [since 26 August 2005; elected 2005, re-elected 2010] The President is elected by direct popular vote for a 5-year term.

Parliament: [bicameral].

Senate : (49 Seats) 34 members (2 from each province) are indirectly elected by communal councilors, 3 members are from the ethnic Twa minority, 4 former presidents, and 8 co-opted members appointed to ensure that gender (at least 30% women) quotas are met; members serve 5-year terms.

National Assembly:  (106 Seats) 100 members are elected by direct popular vote in multi-member constituencies using the party-list proportional representation system, 6 members are co-opted to ensure that constitutionally mandated ethnic (60% Hutu-40% Tutsi, and 3 Twa) and gender (at least 30% women) quotas are met; members serve 5-year terms.

Electoral Authority: National Independent Electoral Commission.

Political Situation since Independence

1962-1966 : Emerging Democracy
1966-1974 :  Military Regime & One Party State (UPRONA)
1974-1976 : One Party State (UPRONA)
1976-1979 : Military Regime
1979-1987 : One Party State (UPRONA)
1987-1992 : Military Regime & One Party State (UPRONA)
1992-1993 : Multiparty Transition
1993  :       Democracy ( but the 1st democratic elected president was killed in two months after his inauguration)
1993-1996 : Restricted Democratic Practice
1996  :       Military Regime
1996-2001 : Restricted Democratic Practice
2001-2005:  Transitional Government
2005-2010:  Democracy
2010-  2013    Emerging Democracy

2012 November - Murundi People's Front Abatabazi becomes sixth rebel group to launch attacks on government forces from across the DRCongolese border since the disputed presidential election, adding to fears of a return to civil war.

2013 June - President Nkurunziza approves new media law which critics condemn as an attack on press freedom. Law forbids reporting on matters that could undermine national security, public order or the economy.

2013 August - The leader of the former rebel FML, Agathon Rwasa, resurfaces after three years in hiding and says he will stand in the 2015 presidential election.

2014 January - Burundi deploys a battalion of troops to Central African Republic, as part of an international effort to prevent a descent into civil war there.

2014 March - Several opposition supporters are jailed for life for attending an illegal demonstration.
Parliament blocks a government attempt to introduce changes to the constitution which would have threatened the balance of power between the country's main ethnic groups.

2014 April - Burundi orders a senior UN official to leave the country after a UN report warns that the government is arming its young supporters ahead of next year's elections, a claim which the government denies.

2014 June - Burundi gets into trouble again for the presidential third term - coup d'etta attempted (failed) and  violence 

2014 July - Parliament passes a bill to curb the proliferation of churches in the country. A survey last year found there were 557 denominations practising in Burundi.

2014 October - Burundian opposition leader Leonce Ngendakumana sentenced to a year in prison for slander, in what he describes as a political trial ahead of next year's election.

Understanding Burundi

What you need to know about Burundi

Burundi has started reaping the dividends of a peace process. But it faces the formidable tasks of reviving a shattered economy and of forging national unity. Since 1993 Burundi seemed poised to enter a new era when, in their first democratic elections, Burundians chose their first Hutu head of state, Melchior Ndadaye, and a parliament dominated by the Hutu Front for Democracy in Burundi (Frodebu) party. But within months Ndadaye had been assassinated by Tutsi military officials setting the scene for years of Hutu-Tutsi violence in which an estimated 300,000 people, most of them civilians, were killed.

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Politics: Stability appears to be within reach after years of bloody conflict. The government and the last active rebel group signed a ceasefire in May 2008, but post-election tension in 2010 renewed fears of civil war.  Economy: Half the population lives below the poverty line. Coffee and tea account for most of the foreign currency earnings.

International: Relative peace after a 12-year ethnic-based civil war has been attributed partly to international mediation and support.

Country profiles compiled by BBC Monitoring

Back in June 1993, Melchior Ndadaye, leader of the Hutu-dominated Front for Democracy in Burundi (FRODEBU), won the first democratic election and became the first Hutu head of state, leading a pro-Hutu government. However, in October 1993, Tutsi soldiers assassinated Ndadaye, which started further years of violence between Hutus and Tutsis.

 It is estimated that some 300,000 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the years following the assassination.^[21]In early 1994 parliament elected another Hutu, Cyprien Ntaryamira, as president. But he was killed in April alongside the president of neighbouring Rwanda when the plane they were travelling in was shot down over Kigali. Another Hutu, Sylvestre Ntibantunganya, was appointed president in October 1994. But within months, the mainly Tutsi Union for National Progress (Uprona) party withdrew from the government and parliament, sparking a new wave of ethnic violence.

Following long-running talks, mediated by South Africa, a power-sharing government was set up in 2001 and most of the rebel groups agreed to a ceasefire. Four years later Burundians voted in the first parliamentary elections since the start of the civil war.

The main Hutu former rebel group won the vote and nominated its leader Pierre Nkurunziza as president. As today the government and the United Nations embarked on the lengthy process of disarming thousands of soldiers and former rebels, as well as forming a new national army

Geographically , Burundi is divided into 17 provinces, 117 communes, and 2,638 collines(hills). Provincial governments are structured upon these boundaries

§ Bubanza § Bujumbura Mairie § Bujumbura Rural § Bururi § Cankuzo § Cibitoke § Gitega § Karuzi § Kayanza

§ Kirundo § Makamba § Muramvya § Muyinga § Mwaro § Ngozi § Rutana § Ruyigi

There is less health care in Burundi than in most other countries. Life expectancy at birth is estimated at 48.5 years. (2005) . A large proportion of the population is undernourished. There were 3 physicians per 100,000 persons in the early 2000s.^[ Many Burundians have migrated to other countries as a result of the civil war. In 2006, the United States accepted approximately 10,000 Burundian refugees.

Most Burundians live in rural areas, while about six percent of the population live in urban areas. The population density of around 315 people per square kilometer (753 per sq mi) is the second highest in Sub-Saharan Africa.

In June 1993, Melchior Ndadaye, leader of the Hutu-dominated Front for Democracy in Burundi (FRODEBU), won the first democratic election and became the first Hutu head of state, leading a pro-Hutu government. However, in October 1993, Tutsi soldiers assassinated Ndadaye, which started further years of violence between Hutus and Tutsis. It is estimated that some 300,000 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the years following the assassination.^[21].

Melchior Ndadaye (March 28, 1953 – October 21, 1993) was a Burundian intellectual and politician. He was the first democratically elected and first Hutu president of Burundi after winning the landmark 1993 election. Though he moved to attempt to smooth the country's bitter ethnic divide, his reforms antagonised soldiers in the Tutsi-dominated army, and he was assassinated amidst a failed military coup in October 1993, after only three months in office. His assassination sparked an array of brutal tit-for-tat massacres between the Tutsi and Hutu ethnic groups, and ultimately sparked the decade-long Burundi Civil War.

Ndadaye's government was to be short-lived, however, as he was overthrown and killed in a military coup on October 21. The exact events have never been clarified, but it appears that Ndadaye, Pontien Karibwami, the president of the National Assembly and Gilles Bimazubute, the vice-president of the National Assembly, were taken to an army barracks before dawn by supposedly loyal soldiers under the guise that there had been a mutiny by sections of the army and that they needed protection. The three, along with a number of other officials and cabinet members, were then executed, with Ndadaye bayonetted to death.

A United Nations investigation into Ndadaye's murder, the result of which was released in 1996, accused the army command of being responsible for the assassination and of being complicit in the resulting massacres by Tutsi troops. Between 1993 and 2003, many rounds of peace talks, overseen by regional leaders inTanzania, South Africa, and Uganda, gradually established power-sharing agreements to satisfy the majority of the contending groups. African Union (AU) peacekeepers were deployed to help oversee the installation of a transitional government. In June 2004, the UN stepped in and took over peacekeeping responsibilities as a signal of growing international support for the already markedly advanced peace process in Burundi.

· Full name: Republic of Burundi

· Population: 8.6 million (UN, 2011)

· Capital: Bujumbura

· Area: 27,816 sq km (10,740 sq miles)

· Major languages: Kirundi (official), French (official), Swahili

· Major religions: Christianity, indigenous beliefs

· Life expectancy: 50 years (men), 53 years (women) (UN)

· Monetary unit: 1 Burundi franc = 100 centimes

· Main exports: coffee, tea, sugar, cotton, hides

· GNI per capita: US $170 (World Bank, 2010)