It’s The Right Time for
the ICC to Indict Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza
- Leaders Should Be Held Accountable For The Consequences That Arise from lifting Term limits or Any Other Political Decision That Turns Fatal
The politically motivated bloodletting in Burundi has raised
dust all over the globe. Good thing is that the international community has
demonstrated immediate concern with calls for a peace enforcing contingent to
intervene.
The gruesome images {posted on social media} of killings orchestrated
by the army really calls for action from the regional powers.
They say that to successful solve a problem; you need to
know the cause of that particular problem. And I think the obvious cause of the
Burundi conflict is obviously placed on the door of President Pierre Nkurunziza’s
decision to intransigently push for an extra term in office.
It’s not debatable that if Nkurunziza had opted to step down
after his two terms in office, Burundi would be in total peace.
The lives of over 400 Burundians so far killed since the
advent of the political stalemate would have been preserved. The influx of
millions of refugees loitering around the region would have been averted.
Question is, if the current Burundian president is the problem
why do we have to run in circles. Why is he not brought to order
THE COSTS
There is news that the European Union has earmarked € 30 million
Euros to foot the bills to restore sanity in Burundi.
And it’s disheartening that all these expenses have arisen because
one man, president Nkurunziza whose unpopular decision to overturn the constitution
of his motherland for his personal wish to rule his countrymen is now affecting
everybody.
Legal Arguments versus
Logic
During the heated debate on whether president Nkurunziza was
right to contest for another term or not, there were divergent views about the
issue.
There was a strong argument about the constitutionality of
him running again when the constitution was clear that at no time should a
given leader run for president beyond two0 terms.
President Nkurunziza made a legal argument that the first
term had been given to him through parliament {an electoral college} rather
than universal suffrage that comprises of the people of Burundi.
The embattled Burundian president also went on to qualify
his justification to contest again by asserting that he was only interested in running
for one more term {delivered through universal suffrage}upon which he would
step down.
The legal conundrum of that time was whether the Arusha
accord which created the option of parliament electing the president was
binding on the constitution which provided that the president be elected by universal
suffrage.
And it was true that president nkurunziza’s first term was
not conducted under the Burundian constitution but was done under the Arusha
accord.
Now that confusion was, in very many ways similar to the-chicken-and
-egg-which-one- came-first debate.
It was never going to be resolved amicably without
generating a standoff.
And indeed when the matter went to the courts, the
constitutional court ruled in President Pierre Nkurunziza’s favor to run for
another term.
The Consequences
Remember that some senior judicial officers fled the country
followed by thousands of Burundians who immediately read trouble in the court verdict.
Of course there was an election in the offing. And it was
duly conducted in June this year with the incumbent retaining his seat.
But six months into the controversial term have seen things
turn from bad to worse.
The president has already survived a coup attempt, and probably
attempts on his life have been averted. Some of his close pals have been killed
in the process of these political skirmishes.
At one time some of us actually thought that there was no
harm if president Nkurunziza served one more term provided it was to be the
very last term.
We naively expected the Burundians to exercise some qualified
patience.
But the whole thing has boomeranged and there is mayhem in
the country at the moment.
You can safely argue that while president Nkurunziza had a credible
legal argument to run for another term, the circumstances on the ground were
logically not making sense at all. He should have looked at the consequences of
running again.
THE SOLUTION
Having seen what has happened so far , it’s very clear that
there will be no peace in Burundi unless president Nkurunziza is taken out of
power either by force or otherwise.
The terrible mayhem that is unfolding today should squarely
be put on the shoulders of the Burundian president.
He should be held accountable for all the people who have
lost their lives and those who have fled to exile. He should be held accountable for the practical
financial costs which the international community is going to foot.
There is no a better case to put forward than the case for
the quick indictment of President Pierre Nkurunziza.
If he remains scot-free it will certainly set a very dangerous
precedence.
To Lift Or Not To Lift Term Limits
The issue of lifting term is controversial subject because it’s
not necessarily a tenet of democracy. It’s just a tool used to regulate the
democratic process. But if a leader lifts the term limits, and it results into
deaths of the citizens then he should be held accountable for the consequences.
As I was penning this
article, the people of Rwanda were involved in referendum that would determine whether,
President Pual Kagame would continue to govern beyond his current term which is
due to expire in 2017.
But the outcome of the vote notwithstanding, if the people of
Rwanda vote to pave way for their man to continue and it doesn’t result into mayhem,
then fine.
But if it{the referendum} results into the destruction of
the country, then the beneficiary of the process should be held accountable. And
I think the man at the spot of this scenario should be president Nkurunziza ,
whose fatal decision to continue running for the presidency is resulting to the
total destruction of Burundi.
Am eagerly waiting to see him in the dock at the Hague.
Ends
The author, Fred Daka Kamwada is a senior Ugandan journalist and a
blogger, get him at kamwadafred@yahoo.com
Ends
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