Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta met with the Speaker of the Burundian parliament and his deputy over the weekend.
Kenyatta says the two prominent Parliamentarians from the sister nation briefed him on the political situation in that country where highly contested and controversial elections were recently held in the midst of extreme violence and an aborted coup. Those elections, won by incumbent president Pierre Nkurunziza and his party were shunned by the international community.
The Speaker of the Burundi parliament, Mr Pascal Nyabenda ( first left in photo above), doubles as the chairman of the ruling party CNDD-FDD, while the Deputy Speaker, Mr Agathon Rwasa (first right), heads the opposition, Amizero y’Abarundi coalition.
"They informed me that the government of President Pierre Nkurunziza and the opposition had agreed to work together for the interest of their country and sought Kenya’s support for further reconciliation in Burundi., " Kenyatta said, refering to the two visitors.
" I told the two leaders, who were accompanied by MPs from the two sides, that they can count on Kenya’s support for all efforts aimed at fostering peace in Burundi. The region’s interest is to have a peaceful Burundi because we cannot let you go back to the violence which you have gone through before. I am happy to see that your team is composed of all the sides of the political spectrum sending a strong signal to the world that you want peace. Regional leaders are willing to continue supporting Burundi to remain peaceful but the biggest responsibility rests with Burundians, " the Kenyan leader.
Burundi, a landlocked, extremely poor East African country formerly colonized by Belgium, has suffered all sorts of torments in its turbulent history: ethnic strife, coups, economic degradation, brutal dictatorships, monumental poverty and so on.
Photos: Government of Kenya.
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