Speaking to journalists in Kampala, Burundi’s deputy chief of State protocol, Ambassador Albert Nasasagare said that: “Presidential elections will be held on June 26.”
“I appeal to the people of Burundi to respect the rights of others. When you don’t like a leader, you vote them out — that is what democracy is all about,” he said.
Nasasagare was speaking at a meeting hosted by Pastor Robert Kayanja, the chairman AFRI-AID, an organization that was set up to help people in needy situation.
Jean Bosco Barege, the Burundi Ambassador to Uganda also attended the meeting, which was held at Miracle Center Church in Rubanga.
Pastor Kayanja appealed for calm in Burundi, revealing that shortly after the coup attempt in the country, President Pierre Nkurunziza telephoned him thanking him for praying for Burundi.
Following an attempted coup on May 13, this week Burundi’s political situation erupted again after a key opposition figure, Zedi Feruzi, of the Union for Peace and Development was assassinated on May 24.
Nasasagare said that Government has opened investigations into the assassination of Feruzi and that the culprits will be arrested and paraded in court.
Nkurunziza’s bid to run for a third term has resulted into protests, especially on the streets of Bujumbura.
The protestors say that by Nkurunziza seeking a third term, he is defying the Arusha peace deal that ended the civil war in 2005.
Pastor Kayanja said that the United Nations has already passed $250m (sh750b) for the Burundi crisis.
He, however said that this shows that “someone somewhere is benefiting from the Burundi crisis” because you cannot put a figure to combat a situation when you have not fully assessed its gravity.
“We are praying for Burundi,” he said.
In a communiqué issued shortly after the East African Community meeting over Burundi on May 12, the chairman of the bloc, Jakaya Kikwete, the President of Tanzania, called for a postponement of the elections in Burundi until violence In Burundi.
-http://www.newvision.co.ug/
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