Burundi Frees 1,300 Prisoners Under Presidential Pardon

Prisoners released in January 2018.

Burundi on Monday freed some 1,300 prisoners in the first stage of a presidential pardon aimed at emptying overcrowded jails in the East African nation, the country's justice minister said.

Nearly 1,000 prisoners were released from a jail in Bujumbura at a ceremony attended by President Evariste Ndayishimiye, government ministers and foreign ambassadors. Another 331 inmates were discharged in the capital Gitega.

They were the first among some 3,000 detainees the government has promised to imminently release, with another 2,000 receiving sentence cuts that will allow them to walk free in coming weeks.

"This is the first time in our country that nearly 5,000 detainees have benefited from a presidential pardon," said Justice Minister Jeanine Nibizi.

The government announced in March plans to release 5,255 inmates -- a figure amounting to some 40 percent of Burundi's estimated 13,200 prisoners, civil society groups said.

The country's prisons have a capacity of 4,100.

In his presidential decree at the time, Ndayishimiye said he was "convinced that an exceptional measure of clemency is needed to de-congest prisons and improve conditions of detention."

Those convicted of corruption, and prisoners serving sentences of up to five years, were slated for release. Certain exceptions were made, including cases involving participation in an armed group or threatening national security.

"It is a good thing, even if the prisons remain crowded... I only regret that political prisoners have not benefited from this presidential pardon," Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, president of Aprodeh, an organization for the protection of inmates, told AFP.

One foreign diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said it was a "gesture in the right direction" and followed the release of four journalists in December detained for a year on charges rights groups condemned as baseless.

Ndayishimiye was elected in May last year, raising hopes that the iron-fisted and repressive state would open up, which have since been dashed.

He succeeded the late president Pierre Nkurunziza, whose insistence on a third term in office in 2015 plunged the country into a serious and prolonged political crisis marked by summary executions, disappearances, arbitrary arrests and torture of dissidents.

 

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UK extends travel bans as United Arab Emirates, Burundi and Rwanda added to red list to prevent spread of new variant

United Arab Emirates, Burundi and Rwanda added to travel ban.

 

entry to the UK is banned for visitors arriving from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Burundi and Rwanda from 29 January 2021 at 1pm – British, Irish and third-country nationals with residence rights in the UK will be allowed to enter

 

from 4am on Friday morning all arrivals who have, in the 10 days before their arrival in the UK, been in these destinations, and their households, will have to self-isolate immediately, and will not be eligible to use Test to Release

 

move is in response to new evidence showing the likely spread of a coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa

The government has today (28 January 2021) taken the urgent decision to ban travel to the UK from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Burundi and Rwanda to prevent the spread of the new variant originally identified in South Africa into the UK.

From 1pm on Friday 29 January, passengers who have been in or transited through the United Arab Emirates, Burundi and Rwanda in the last 10 days will no longer be granted access to the UK.

This does not include British and Irish nationals, or third-country nationals with residence rights in the UK, who will be able to enter the UK but are required to self-isolate for 10 days at home, along with their household. Passengers returning from these countries cannot be released from self-isolation through Test to Release.

There will also be a flight ban on direct passenger flights from the UAE.

The decision to ban travel from these destinations follows the discovery of a new coronavirus variant, first identified in South Africa, that may have spread to other countries, including the UAE, Burundi and Rwanda.

Any exemptions usually in place will not apply, including for business travel.

British nationals currently in the UAE should make use of the commercial options available if they wish to return to the UK. Indirect commercial routes that will enable British and Irish nationals and residents to return to the UK continue to operate.

British nationals should check Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) travel advice and follow local guidance. The FCDO will continue to offer tailored consular assistance to British nationals in country in need of advice on a 24/7 basis.

Today’s action follows new measures announced by the government yesterday to minimise travel across international borders and reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission, including managed isolation in hotels and the need to declare a reason for travel. More details on these measures will be set out next week.

 

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G-M Ndayishimiye wins Burundi election petition as Constitutional court confirmed his success

Agathon Rwasa, presidential candidate of Burundi's main opposition party CNL, speaks to media after filing a petition against the result of presidential and general elections at the constitutional court in Bujumbura on May 28, 2020. PHOTO | AFP 

The main opposition candidate in the just concluded Burundi elections is negotiating for soft landing after constitutional court upheld election of Evariste Ndayishimiye as president.

Opposition leader Agathon Rwasa said: “We are going to see how we can negotiate with the government because this decision shouldn’t be the cause of bloodshed in the country.”

At the same time, Mr Rwasa has hinted at seeking redress at the East African Court of Justice in Arusha, Tanzania.

Mr Rwasa sought constitutional court intervention to annul the election, saying it was marred by irregularities.

Mr Rwasa, who is also the deputy speaker of parliament ran against Mr Ndayishimiye in the May 20 election, accused the ruling party of rigging the election.

In an interview with The EastAfrican, Mr Rwasa accused Independent Electoral Commission of announcing the provisional results before tallying was concluded.

“The day the electoral commission announced the provisional results some provinces were yet to finish vote counting. We had to go to the constitutional court because we believed the court was neutral, but now we have to comply with the law, even when the irregularities are so obvious,” said Mr Rwasa.

Among the eight arguments submitted by Mr Rwasa included gross irregularities, saying dead voters are still on the register.

He also complained that his agents were arrested while others were kicked out of the polling station before vote counting began.

Compelling evidence

However, Burundi’s constitutional court president Charles Ndayiragije said there was no compelling evidence for the incidents alleged by Mr Rwasa.

“For that reason, we announce that CNDD-FDD’s presidential candidate Evariste Ndayishimiye won the elections and will be declared the president of the republic for a seven-year term” said Mr Ndayiragije.

Mr Ndayishimiye, the secretary general of CNDD-FDD, won the presidential election by 68 per cent of the votes, with second placed Mr Rwasa, garnered 24 per cent.

Seven candidates were in the running to replace the incumbent President Pierre Nkurunziza, who has ruled the country for 15 years. The other candidate was fronted by Uprona, who came third.

 

[The EastAfrican]

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Burundi opposition takes presidential election dispute to court

National Freedom Council's Agathon Rwasa files case in constitutional court, claiming evidence of fraud in May 20 polls.

 

 

Rwasa said if the court did not rule in his party's favour, the party would take the case to the East African Court of Justice in Arusha, Tanzania [Evrard Ngendakumana/Reuters]

 Burundi's main opposition party has filed a case in the country's constitutional court challenging last week's presidential election result, claiming there is evidence of fraud.

Burundi's election commission said on Monday the governing party candidate, retired General Evariste Ndayishimiye, had won the presidential election with 69 percent of the vote. It added that candidate Agathon Rwasa got 24 percent of the vote and the election was peaceful.

But Rwasa, the opposition leader of the National Freedom Council (CNL), while speaking to reporters on Thursday after filing the complaint, said "appalling errors were made across the country," adding that "no district or province was spared".

"We have provided evidence that there has been a massive fraud," Rwasa said. "The announced results are false."

The court will have until June 5 to decide the case.

Rwasa said if the court did not rule in the CNL's favour, the party would take the case to the East African Court of Justice in Arusha, Tanzania.

If the legal challenge is not successful, Ndayishimiye will be inaugurated in August for a seven-year term. 

Reports of political violence

The May 20 vote to replace President Pierre Nkurunziza had been preceded by reports political violence including the arrest, torture and murder of opposition activists, according to a local rights group and Amnesty International.

There was also controversy over holding the election during the coronavirus pandemic, which critics argued posed a public health risk.

There were also no foreign observers present, as the government said they would have to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival in the country.

The country's last election in 2015 was marked by violence, with hundreds of Burundians killed and hundreds of thousands exiled during the unrest, in which the opposition accused Nkurunziza of violating a peace deal by running for a third term.

Rwasa said the evidence in his filing showed that people had voted using dead voters' identities, that polling stations had used an electoral register that has never been published by the electoral body, and that ballot boxes had been stuffed.

While the East African Community, a regional body, gave the election a clean bill of health on Tuesday, the Conference of Bishops of Burundi criticised the conduct during the polling, saying observers from some parties had been chased from polling stations.

A joint statement issued by western diplomats on Wednesday made no reference to any irregularities and urged the opposition to pursue legal paths to contest the election outcome.

The electoral body's officials were not immediately reachable to comment on Rwasa's complaints.

Five other candidates also stood in the polls, in which 5.11 million registered voters were eligible to participate.

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WHO warns coronavirus could kill thousands in Africa, as Burundi expels experts

COVID-19 could infect a quarter of a billion people in Africa and kill 150,000 within a year, a WHO model has projected. Amid rising death tolls, Burundi expelled experts from WHO, drawing international condemnation.

The novel coronavirus could kill 150,000 people in Africa over the next year unless "urgent action" is taken, researchers warned in a regional report from the World Health Organization (WHO) released Friday.

The study, published in the journal BMJ Global Health, modelled likely rates of exposure to the virus in 47 African countries. 

Researchers predicted that around 22% of Africa's population of 1 billion will be infected within a year, with around 37 million symptomatic cases. This could result in around 150,000 deaths.

While the modelling showed an overall lower infection rate in Africa compared to Europe and the US, experts warned that health systems there could quickly become overwhelmed.

The study predicted around 4.6 million COVID-19 hospitalizations, with 140,000 severe cases requiring oxygen and another 89,000 needing breathing support. 

"Interruption of its transmission to prevent widespread community transmission is critical because its effects go beyond the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths and affect the health system capacity to provide other essential services," the report read. 

The outbreak could result in the diversion of medical resources away from health issues already present in region, such as HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, and malnutrition. For this reason, African countries could see higher fatality rates among relatively young people, researchers said.

"The region will have fewer deaths, but occurring more in relatively younger age groups, amongst people previously considered healthy -- due to undiagnosed non-communicable diseases," the report said, adding that these trends could already be seen emerging.  

Highest-risk countries

Using risk of exposure and vulnerability indexes, researchers were also able to derive infection probabilities for individual African state. 

The results showed the largest number of overall infections occurring in Nigeria, Algeria and South Africa, with Mauritania, Seychelles and Eritrea recording the fewest overall cases. 

However, in terms of per capita infections, Mauritius, Seychelles, and Equatorial Guinea were positioned to have the highest proportion of their populations affected. 

Action must be taken now

The study encouraged the use of non-pharmaceutical measures as the best approach to counting the outbreak. 

"The effect of avoiding widespread and sustained community transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is significant, and most likely outweigh any costs of preventing such a scenario," researchers wrote. 

They called for swift improvements to healthcare facilities, with an emphasis on primary hospitals increasing patient capacity.

WHO expelled from Burundi

Burundi's Foreign Ministry on Thursday expelled WHO experts, accusing them of "unacceptable interference in [Burundi's] management of the coronavirus."

Burundi is preparing for presidential and parliamentary elections next week. The public health experts had criticized the government's decision to dismiss social distancing recommendations aimed at preventing the spread of "coronavirus during the electoral campaign."

The UN Commission of Inquiry on Burundi said it "deeply regretted the recent decision by the government to declare persona non grata the country representative of WHO and three of its experts."

Burundian human rights activist Pacifique Nininahazwe told DW that there had been tensions between the government and WHO due to "the opaque management of the coronavirus crisis in Burundi."

"It's not that surprising," Nininahazwe said of the decision to throw out the WHO experts. "The relationships between Burundi and the international community are very, very bad since the 2015 (political crisis)."

When asked about expulsion, Burundi's Vice President Gaston Sidimwo told DW: "I don't really know anything about this decision," adding that he was currently campaigning in the country.

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Grenade attack sparks fears over Burundi polls

Election observers told to brace for 14-day quarantine.

Protestors close the roads during a demonstration against President Pierre Nkurunziza in Bujumbura on April 26, 2015. FILE PHOTO | AFP  

Details

• The explosion came in the same week that 90 people were arrested in connection with skirmishes during campaigns, with the government insisting that any EAC election observers would have to undergo a 14-day mandatory quarantine on setting foot in the country.
• Burundi on Wednesday expelled representatives of the World Health Organisation and three senior health experts deployed to Bujumbura over unspecified reasons ahead of the country’s elections.

Burundi orders WHO team responsible for managing COVID-19 to leave country

Burundi has ordered the expulsion of the country’s top World Health Organization (WHO) representative and three other experts coordinating the coronavirus response, the foreign ministry said in a letter seen by AFP on Wednesday.

In a letter dated May 12 and addressed to WHO’s Africa headquarters, the foreign ministry said the four officials “are declared persona non grata and as such, must leave the territory of Burundi” by Friday.

The directive expels WHO’s top official in Burundi, Doctor Walter Kazadi Mulombo, the country’s coronavirus coordinator Doctor Jean Pierre Mulunda Nkata, communicable diseases head Doctor Ruhana Mirindi Bisimwa, and a laboratory expert in the testing for COVID-19, Professor Daniel Tarzy.

“It is the whole WHO team responsible for supporting Burundi in its response against COVID-19,” a Burundian official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“They are expelled and the health minister has totally excluded WHO, accusing it of unacceptable interference in its management of the coronavirus.”

The letter does not provide a reason for the decision. Diplomatic and administrative sources told AFP the foreign ministry aborted a similar attempt to expel the same four officials a month ago.

The announcement comes just days before Burundians go to the polls on May 20 to choose a new president, parliamentarians and local officials.

[AFP]

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Burundi Election: Observers To Be Quarantined

Burundi Warns EAC Observers Will Be Quarantined For 14 Days

By Nyawira Mwangi

 

Burundi’s opposition National Freedom Council (CNL), presidential candidate Agathon Rwasa, addresses supporters during a campaign rally in Ngozi province, Burundi April 27, 2020. REUTERS/Evrard Ngendakumana

Burundi is scheduled to hold its general elections on May 20 but has warned that observers sent by the East African Community will be placed under mandatory 14-day quarantine.

This means the election observers will not be able to follow up the electoral process because the quarantine period will elapse two days after the elections are held.

According to a letter written by the Burundi government that was signed in May 8, “It is mandatory for all persons, whether Burundians, Residents in Burundi or East African Community Citizens, entering the Republic of Burundi, to respect the 14 days quarantine period.”

However, in the same letter, the government proposed that, “It is advisable that the EAC Secretariat should delegate among the stakeholders who might be already present in Burundi and to whom the 14-day quarantine doesn’t apply, to serve as the East African Community Technical Observation Mission.”

According to critics, the Independent National Electoral Commission has refused to publish the updated list of eligible voters adding that there is a possibility that numbers will be made up on Election Day.

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Burundi slams "liars" who say country has no equipment to detect COVID-19

Burundi has denounced as "liars" online users who claim the country does not have equipment to detect the novel coronavirus.

In a statement issued on Wednesday evening, Burundian Government Spokesman Prosper Ntahorwamiye said the east African country has adequate and sufficient equipment to test COVID-19.

"The Burundian government reassures that the country has adequate and sufficient equipment to detect the novel coronavirus. The evidence is that the suspicious coronavirus case of a teacher at the French School was screened, but results showed that she was negative," said Ntahorwamiye.

He gave the examples of the French and the Belgian schools in the commercial capital Bujumbura that have already suspended classes after the global COVID-19 outbreak.

The Burundian government has warned against manipulating the facts and distorting decisions made by the government.

Ntahorwamiye said the Burundian government "has the right to take appropriate measures" against those who make unjustified claims.

The Burundian government thanked China for supplying logistical equipment to combat a potential outbreak of the coronavirus in the country.

So far, no novel coronavirus case has been reported in Burundi. Several measures have been taken to prevent COVID-19 from entering the east African nation, including suspending international commercial flights departing or landing at Melchior Ndadaye International Airport in Bujumbura, and suspending the delivery of visas and overseas business travel.

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Coronavirus: Burundi suspends all flights in and out of the country

By David Ochieng Mbewa

A medical staff member measures a man's temperature as a preventive measure against the Covid-19 coronavirus on his arrival of repatriation in Gatumba, on border with the DR Congo, in Burundi, on March 18, 2020. PHOTO | ONESPHORE NIBIGIRA | AFP

Burundi announced that it had suspended all flights in and out of the country in an attempt to prevent the spread of the coronavirus into the country.

The order applies to the Melchior Ndadaye International Airport, which is located in the country’s economic capital, Bujumbura, according to Minister in charge of Public Security, Alain-Guillaume Bunyoni.

“The borders will remain open and we strongly advise citizens not to travel to countries that already have COVID-19 cases,” Bunyoni said.

Burundi is one of 15 countries in Africa to not yet register any positive case of the coronavirus.

However, Burundi’s neighbours, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda have all registered positive cases of the coronavirus.

Burundi’s Health Minister Thadee Ndikumana reiterated that the country was on high alert to do as much as possible to prevent the spread of the virus into the country.

“We are working tirelessly to make sure that whoever enters the country from the airport, or any other border point is fully screened,” Ndikumana said.

Ndikumana added that the government had screened more than 250 Burundians who had returned to the country had been screened with none of them so far testing positive for COVID-19.

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Burundian court approves presidential candidacy of former president

Burundi's Constitutional Court has approved the presidential candidacy of former president Domitien Ndayizeye after the country's electoral body declined his application for the May 20 elections.

A court hearing held here on Thursday ruled that Ndayizeye, representing the Kira-Burundi coalition, had met the requirements to run for the presidency set by the Burundian National Independent Electoral Commission (CENI).

On March 10, the CENI had rejected Ndayizeye's application and three other hopefuls' by saying they did not meet the requirements stipulated by the country's constitution or the electoral code.

The CENI said that the four candidates can appeal against the decision to the Constitutional Court within two days.

The appeals of two other applicants including Valentin Kavakure for the National People's Front (FPN-Imboneza) party and Anicet Niyonkuru for the Council of the Patriots (CDP) party were rejected due to a shortfall in the number and qualifications of nominees.

The fourth candidate, Jacques Bigirimana of the National Liberation Forces, withdrew his appeal on March 16 at the request of his party.

The approval of Ndayizeye's candidacy brings the number of candidates to seven.

Evariste Ndayishimiye, who was president from 2003-2005, will represent the ruling party, the CNDD-FDD. The current Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza will not run for office.

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Burundi want CAF action over March qualifiers because of coronavirus

 

The Confederation of African Football has said it is to 'maintain the schedule' of all its competitions

Burundi's football federation is the latest to appeal to the Confederation of African Football (Caf) to take action over this month's Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers because of the coronavirus outbreak. 

Burundi said on Friday they will not be calling up any players from Europe for their designated matches against Mauritania on 25 and 29 March. 

"This measure is taken because of the 14 days (of quarantine) needed to enter Burundi, after having been in (Europe)," Burundi's federation said in a statement.

"The federation calls on Caf to analyse the measures needed to allow the participation of all eligible players in these matches." 

Burundi follows The Gambia in complaining about the possibility of being forced to play games when some first-team players are ineligible for selection. 

Seven of The Gambia's squad are based in Italy, which is currently undergoing a lockdown in a bid to contain the outbreak of the pandemic. 

Kenya - which has barred sports competitors from travelling abroad - has also appealed to Caf, which has told the BBC that a statement is likely to follow on Friday, and possibly Saturday too. 

A raft of sporting events have already been cancelled across the world, but Caf has stated that it will 'maintain its schedule' until an African country is declared high-risk. 

The continent has some 48 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, in a similar number of countries, scheduled for the end of the month.

So far, 16 African nations have reported the presence of coronavirus - with all the cases coming from travellers from Europe and the United States. 

Significant numbers of players in African squads are based in Europe, with 34 in the Premier League - which was postponed on Friday until early April after five clubs announced the presence of coronavirus in their camps. 

Arsenal duo Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Gabon and Ivory Coast's Nicolas Pepe are understood to be self-isolating after their manager Mikel Arteta tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday evening. 

"In one-two weeks, a few hundred Europe-based players will travel to Africa - some of them from high-risk zones and some of them perhaps infected by the virus without knowing," The Gambia coach Tom Saintfiet told BBC Sport Africa earlier this week. 

"They could spread the virus in airports, airplanes and communities they will visit on national team duty - so the risk is very high that the 200-400 players that will travel (from Europe) will spread the infection," the Belgian ventured.

On Thursday, this month's World Cup qualifiers in South America were cancelled by football's world governing body Fifa, which this week postponed its Congress scheduled for Ethiopia in June. 

The 2021 Nations Cup qualifiers aside, Caf also has significant competitions scheduled for April - including the African Nations Championship (CHAN) in Cameroon in April, which is when the African Champions League semi-finals are also set to take place.

A delegation from Caf's medical committee is set to visit Cameroon - which has reported two cases of coronavirus so far - on Saturday, with a view to assessing 'the preventive measures taken by the Local Organising Committee' ahead of the tournament for players based in their own leagues.

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Burundi opposition picks presidential contender as U.N. warns of rights abuses

Agathon Rwasa's candidacy was approved by party delegates [Berthier Mugiraneza/AP]

Reuters - Burundi’s opposition CNL on Sunday picked the current chairman of the National Assembly as its candidate in the presidential election in May which the United Nations says is likely to be marred by violence.

A former rebel leader, Agathon Rwasa, 56, fought in Burundi’s civil war, as did current President Pierre Nkurunziza, who will not seek re-election in the May poll. Like the president, he also comes from the northern Burundi province of Ngozi and the same ethnic group, the Hutu.

Burundi is one of the poorest countries in the world and lost donor funding in 2015 after political violence that followed the elections. 

The tiny East African nation is struggling to come to terms with a violent past, characterized by colonial occupation, civil war and decades of intermittent massacres.

The population is divided between the Tutsi and Hutu ethnic groups. Some 300,000 people were killed in the civil war which ended in 2005.

Rwasa denounced what he said were plans by the ruling party to rig the election. 

“As we are approaching elections, it’s surprising to hear that there are people thinking about rigging elections... Burundians will not let them do it,” he told delegates of his party after his appointment was announced.

In January the ruling party, the CNDD-FDD, chose as its candidate its secretary general, Evariste Ndayishimiye, a retired army general who also heads the department of military affairs in the president’s office and has served as minister of the interior and security. 

The government could not be reached for comment on the accusations of plans to rig the vote.

The United Nations has warned that human rights abuses might increase again ahead of the elections. Since 2015, when Nkurunziza ran for a third, disputed term in office, hundreds of Burundians have been killed in clashes with security forces.

The UN also denounced serious human rights violations, including killings, disappearances, torture and gang rape of alleged political opponents, perpetrated by the police, security forces and the ruling party’s youth league, the Imbonerakure.

The government condemned and denied the accusations.

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Over 6,000 bodies found in Burundi's mass graves

(Reuters) - Burundi’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission has found more than 6,000 bodies in six mass graves in Karusi Province, the largest finding since the government launched a nationwide excavation in January.

The commission chairman Pierre Claver Ndayicariye told journalists on Friday that the remains of 6,032 victims as well as thousands of bullets were recovered. Clothes, glasses and rosaries were used to identify some of the victims.

The tiny East African nation is struggling to come to terms with a violent past, characterized by suffered colonial occupation, civil war and decades of intermittent massacres.

Referring to a massacre which is believed to have targeted people from the Hutu ethnic group, Ndayicariye said families of the victims were able to "break the silence" that was imposed 48 years ago.

Burundi’s population is divided between the Tutsi and Hutu ethnic groups. The civil war - which killed 300,000 people before it ended in 2005 - had ethnic overtones. 

The government-run commission was set up in 2014 to investigate atrocities from 1885, when foreigners arrived in Burundi, until 2008, when a stalled peace deal to end the civil war was fully implemented. 

So far it has mapped over 4,000 mass graves across the country and identified more than 142,000 victims of violence. 

Its mandate does not cover most of the rule of the current president, Pierre Nkurunziza, who took office in 2005. 

The United Nations has warned that human rights abuses might increase again ahead of May 2020 elections. Since 2015, when Nkurunziza ran for a third, disputed term in office, hundreds of Burundians have been killed in clashes with security forces.

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Burundi central bank bans foreign exchange bureaus for flouting official rates

Reuters - Burundi's central bank has suspended the licences of all foreign exchange bureaus in the central African nation, saying the move was aimed at weeding out those flouting official exchange rates.

Burundi has experienced a shortage of foreign exchange since 2015 after a political crisis that started when President Pierre Nkurunziza announced in April that year that he would seek a third term in office. He went on to win the election the following July.

The European Union suspended financial support to Burundi in 2016, saying Nkurunziza had not done enough to resolve the political and economic crisis.

Burundi's central bank said in a statement late on Monday it had withdrawn licences for foreign exchange bureaus for violating rules that allow them to trade currency within an 18% margin of the official exchange rate of 1850 Burundi francs per dollar.

"The licenses which were given to the foreign exchange offices are withdrawn," the central bank said in the statement seen by Reuters on Tuesday, adding the ban would take effect on Feb.15.

The bank said commercial banks would however be allowed continue exchanging currencies.

Police briefly detained more than 40 money traders in late 2019, accused of violating the foreign exchange trading margins.

Typically traders turn to limited dollar supplies from neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, which they were selling on the black market.

The franc has appreciated to 2,500 per dollar from 2,900 in recent days, and traders said this would continue gaining ground due to traders slowing imports, in part due to travel restrictions to China due the coronavirus epidemic.

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The EAC to deploy the Observation Mission Team to supervise Burundi 2020 elections

In a press conference organized by the East African Community Secretariat General, on February 08th, 2020, in Bujumbura, Burundi, it was announced that the East African Community will deploy an Observation Mission Team to supervise the upcoming Burundi 2020 elections which are slated for May this year.

The EAC Secretary-General, Liberat Mpfumukeko, assured the region and the international community that Burundi elections will be fair, inclusive and peaceful.

The East African Community has pledged to support credible, free, fair and peaceful elections, Mpfumukeko added.

Mfumukeko said that the East African Community has already dispatched a group of experts to make consultations with Burundi official and Burundi’s electoral commission in order to make sure that the upcoming elections will be peaceful and inclusive.

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