Despite the hopes of former South African President Nelson Mandela that the belligerents in the Burundi conflict would sign a peace accord this month at a meeting in Arusha, Tanzania, the warring parties adjourned without an agreement. Peace talks are scheduled to resume on August 28.

After the death of former Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere, Mandela took over as mediator in the Burundi conflict. He has been facilitating talks between the Hutu rebels and the Burundian government to end their seven-year civil war. Thousands of people, mostly members of the Hutu ethnic majority have been killed and more than one million have been displaced by the fighting, including Alfred Ndoricimpa, Bishop of the East Africa Annual Conference, who was serving in Burundi. Bishop Ndoricimpa has moved his operations to Nairobi, Kenya. He recently visited Burundi, accompanied by two other United Methodist Bishops for "fraternal support."

War broke out in the tiny landlocked central African country after Tutsi commandos killed Melchior Ndadaye, the first-ever democratically elected President of Burundi, a Hutu. An armed uprising led by Leonard Nyangoma, the former Minister of the Interior in the Ndadaye's administration, ensued. Later other factions also picked up arms to fight the government.

Although Tutsis only make up 15 percent of the population of Burundi, they dominate all political and economic aspects of the country. They also run the military. At the Arusha talks, President Mandela proposed a power-sharing agreement, which would integrate the army and create a multiethnic parliament with equal representation of each ethnic group. The proposal also calls for power to be handed over to a democratically elected government after a transitional period.

The Burundi government wants a cease-fire in place before it will agree to a peace deal with the armed opposition. Reuters reports that the rebels, on the other hand, "insist that negotiations for a cease-fire should begin only after the agreement is signed." The rebels say that before they can enter into serious negotiations, the government must release political prisoners and dismantle all "concentration camps" that the government had set up to hold thousands of Hutu villagers, reportedly for security reasons.

President Mandela wants both parties to sign an agreement when they reconvene on August 28. Many analysts are not optimistic that the belligerents can reach an agreement by the targeted date. There are still many issues to be resolved, including which party will lead the government during the transition period. "We do not want Buyoya to remain President," said one rebel sympathizer in reference to the current President of Burundi, a Tutsi.

Bishop Ndoricimpa, who lauds Mandela's efforts, has also been working along with other Burundians to bring peace to their country. The bishop is widely respected by Burundians in and outside of the country. "My job as a bishop is to reach out to everyone, including people outside The United Methodist Church," he says. Bishop Ndoricimpa has met with the President of Burundi and other players in the Burundi conflict to discuss ways to bring peace to their country.

July 25, 2000

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