Strategic Thinking on East Africa

By: ATHAN TASHOBYA 1994-2016. It’s twenty-two years ago today that the unimaginable happened; a government unleashing a militia of extremists to eliminate a section of the population. A hundred days later, the Genocide against the Tutsi had killed over a million Rwandans. It remains the fastest killing spree ever recorded. And, today, Rwandans will be joined […]

Read the full story

People demonstrate in Bujumbura against a decision by Burundi’s ruling party to nominate President Pierre Nkurunziza to run for a third term (April 2015). Photo: Desire Nimubona/IRIN 22 March 2016 – A climate for inclusive dialogue is urgently required to eradicate the polarization and fragmentation of Burundian society, resulting from the increasing poverty and ongoing political […]

Read the full story

From BBC Image copyrightUN Rwanda genocide suspect Ladislas Ntaganzwa has been flown to Rwanda from Democratic Republic of Congo for trial. Arrested in eastern DR Congo in December, Mr Ntaganzwa, 53, is accused in a UN indictment of genocide, crimes against humanity and violating the Geneva Conventions. He is alleged to have helped form a […]

Read the full story

President of Rwanda Paul Kagame fielded questions from students at Harvard’s Institute of Politics on Friday regarding censorship of the press, balancing democracy and progress, and his decision to run for an unprecedented third term following a constitutional referendum. The president spoke in front of a packed forum with police and secret service guarding all […]

Read the full story

Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza and opposition politicians have agreed to hold talks to end a 10-month-old crisis, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said. After meeting with Nkurunziza and opposition politicians, Ban said on Tuesday that all sides had agreed to “inclusive dialogue” and that the president “confirmed that he would engage in political dialogue. “Burundi’s political […]

Read the full story

By: THE NEW TIMES As Burundi sinks deeper into violent political turmoil, it is becoming more clear that lack of serious and sincere efforts to end the deadlock will only make things worse. There has been a continuous barrage of inflammatory utterances from some of the country’s leaders with calculated attempts to pass the buck to […]

Read the full story

The Strathink Editorial Team We live in interesting times. Our world today is faster, more connected and, in many ways, smaller than the planet we inhabited just twenty years ago. Yet, one part of our world seems surprising unchanged if we view that region from the perspective of the West—Africa. Despite the profound changes that […]

Read the full story

  Cord leader Raila Odinga has accused the African Union of endorsing human rights abuse by failure to deploy troops to quell the conflict in Burundi, and instead concentrating on withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC). In a press release sent to the Nation, Mr Odinga observed that the country is in the precipice […]

Read the full story

From African Arguments Posted on January 27, 2016 by Benjamin Chemouni There are few tangible solutions to Burundi’s crisis in sight. But there are some positive actions regional and international actors can take. The violence in Burundi is evolving and getting worse. Challenges to President Pierre Nkurunziza’s rule are becoming professionalised, as demonstrated by the attacks on two military […]

Read the full story

DISPATCH from Foreign Policy Media houses have been shuttered, journalists attacked, and critics of the government murdered. But one broadsheet is still covering the African country’s descent into chaos. BY TY MCCORMICK BUJUMBURA, Burundi — Christophe Nkezabahizi toiled for years at Radio Télévision Nationale du Burundi (RTNB), the mouthpiece of a regime that would eventually kill him […]

Read the full story