Ugandan president heads to Burundi for crisis election talks

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni flew to Burundi Tuesday for crisis talks, as President Pierre Nkurunziza readied for a third term bid in polls next week following months of violence.

Museveni, appointed mediator last week by the five-nation East African Community (EAC), is to push stalled talks between Nkurunziza’s ruling CNDD-FDD party and opposition groups.

The veteran Ugandan leader said in a statement as he left for Burundi he would “establish a dialogue among warring political factions.”

But with the presidential elections now scheduled for July 21, Museveni has been left with only a few days to succeed.

Nkurunziza’s bid to stand for a third consecutive five-year term, despite a constitutional two-term limit, has sparked months of civil unrest and an attempted coup in mid-May.

Opposition groups say another term would violate a peace deal that paved the way to end a dozen years of civil war in 2006. There are fears the current crisis could plunge the impoverished, landlocked country back into civil war.

Both sides have made clear that their positions will not change.

Museveni must convince the president to step down, said opposition leader Leonce Ngendakumana. “It is black and white,” he said.

Presidential communication advisor Willy Nyamitwe said he hoped Museveni would convince the opposition to take part in polls.

Parliamentary polls, in which Nkurunziza’s ruling CNDD-FDD scored a widely-expected landslide win, were held on May 29 but boycotted by the opposition and internationally condemned.

Over 70 people have been killed in more than two months of protests, with over 158,000 refugees fleeing to neighbouring countries, according to the latest UN figures.

On Monday, security forces said they had arrested around 170 suspected rebels and seized a number of weapons after clashes in the northern provinces of Kayanza and Cibitoke.

Provincial governor Aline Maniratunga said around 30 supporters of opposition leader Agathon Rwasa were arrested in the operation.

Burundian troops fought with rebel soldiers near the border with Rwanda over the weekend, and paraded around 80 of them in front of the media.

Burundian rebel general Leonard Ngendakumana — who took part in the failed coup in May to topple Nkurunziza — has confirmed that soldiers loyal to the coup plot were involved in the fighting.

Opposition and rights groups argue that weeks of protests and a violent crackdown by security forces mean free and fair elections are impossible.

The country has also been left without most of its independent media outlets, after several radio stations were attacked and destroyed in fighting during the attempted coup.

Museveni, who has led Uganda since 1986 and is one of Africa’s longest-serving rulers, is himself seeking re-election in polls next year.