We commiserate with the 12 million Burundians and hope, as a member of the East African Community, the country will navigate the transition peacefully. President Nkurunziza was, to all intents and purposes, not a democrat. For his economic mismanagement, kleptocracy and lone ranger attitude, innumerable livelihoods were destroyed, condemning most Burundians to penury. Gen Ndayishimiye, Nkurunziza’s presumptive successor, must seize the moment to institute a new order. In the immediate run, he must wholeheartedly join the war against the Covid-19 pandemic, over which President Nkurunziza duelled with the World Health Organization, having earlier pulled Burundi out of the International Criminal Court.

Source: Daily Nation June 10, 2020 21:10 UTC