CONSULTATION BETWEEN THE FACILITATOR AND BURUNDI GOVERNMENT AND OTHER KEY STAKEHOLDERS IS ON TOMORROW IN BUJUMBURA, BURUNDI
Consultation between the Facilitator of the Inter-Burundi Dialogue who is also former Tanzania President, H.E. Benjamin William Mkapa, and the Government of the Republic of Burundi is taking place tomorrow Thursday 8th December 2016 in Bujumbura, Burundi. The Facilitator will be arriving in Bujumbura this afternoon ready for the consultations.
The Facilitator, H.E. Benjamin Mkapa, will be conferring with H.E. Pierre Nkunziza and also consult with political stakeholders on the Burundi peace process.
The Facilitator has invited a number of Political Actors who have all confirmed participation in the consultations.
Tomorrow’s consultation is part of a series of both formal and informal engagements with and among the various stakeholders, in and outside Burundi and also with international actors that is laying a firm foundation for the peace process.
The Media will recall that at its 17th Extraordinary session held on 8th of September 2016 in Dar es Salaam, the EAC Summit of Heads of State, among others, received and considered the progress report on the Inter Burundian Dialogue from the Facilitator.
The Facilitators Report highlighted issues for consideration if sustainable Peace and Stability is to be restored in Burundi. The Summit adopted the recommendations of the Facilitator on the way forward and re-emphasized the need for ownership and leadership of the process by the region in all aspects.
Based on the Summit decision, a roadmap for the Burundi Dialogue process was developed and presented to the Mediator His Excellency President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda on 2nd November 2016. The roadmap provides for a series of engagements between December 2016 and June 2017 that will culminate into an Agreement.
In undertaking this process, regular consultations will continue to take place with the Mediator, the EAC Summit of Heads of State, the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), the AU and the UN with a view to collectively accompanying Burundians in the process to seek sustainable Peace and Security. In the same vein the Facilitator will maintain the consultative relationship developed with the various Special Envoys and Representatives supportive of the process.
It is important that as this process proceeds, and for which the Barundi and the EAC Citizens will continue to be briefed on the progress, all parties should strive to avoid actions and utterances that are not helpful to the healing process and remain seized of the commitment to a political process.
Issued by: Office of the Facilitator of the Inter-Burundi Dialogue