The Utility of Mediators in Burundi Peace Process

Abstract

The conflict in Burundi that erupted with the killing of the democratically elected President Melchoir Ndadaye in 1993 was under an international spotlight.  Firstly the international community was enraged by the violent way in which hope over peace was scoffed in Burundi.  Then, the intervention of the regional actors and the subsequent appointment of Julius Nyerere, former president of Tanzania and later Nelson Mandela, former South African president, as mediators to the conflict, added to outside interest.  The peace process started in earnest in 1996. For the next four years, negotiating parties battled it out at the negotiating table up to the moment of the signing of the peace treaty in 2000. Success was not guaranteed nor was compromise easy to reach.  The daunting task was to include rebel groups that were still fighting in the talks.  The fragile nature of the Great Lakes Region did not make things easy since rebels fighting in Burundi could easily traverse borders either to dodge advancing attacks or rearm.  The subsequent implementation of the Agreement, through the formulation of the transition government and holding democratic elections in 2005 that brought to power president Pierre Nkurunzinza, is testimony that if the region, the international community, and the facilitators act in unison, many of the conflicts in Africa could be resolved.