Strategic Thinking on East Africa

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 […]

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South African leader says Burundi agreed to allow pan-African body to send human rights and military monitors. Burundi’s leader Pierre Nkurunziza triggered the crisis when he announced a bid for a third term [Evrard Ngendakumana/Reuters] The African Union (AU) will send 200 human rights and military monitors to Burundi, South Africa’s president said, after a […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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  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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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By Samuel Okiror KAMPALA, 11 January 2016 (IRIN) - For the past three years, the war raging across Uganda’s northern border in South Sudan has been pushing its refugee-hosting abilities to breaking point. But it is now the simmering violence to the south in Burundi that could tip the situation over the edge. “We are […]

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Our Winners are Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegne, the People of Eritrea, Tanzanian President John Magufuli and Rwandan President Paul Kagame The Strathink editorial team would like to begin by congratulating Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn on being named AfricaWorld “Man of the Year.” Moreover, the team would like to congratulate the people of Ethiopia for […]

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