Burundi

Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley where the African Great Lakes region and East Africa converge. Burundi’s capital, Bujumbura, lies at the northeastern end of Lake Tanganyika. The old section of the city comprises buildings from the German and Belgian colonial periods, as well as a central market filled with hundreds of vendors’ booths.

History

The original inhabitants of Burundi were the Twa, a Pygmy people who now make up only 1% of the population. Today the population is divided between the Hutu (approximately 85%) and the Tutsi, approximately 14%. While the Hutu and Tutsi are considered to be two separate ethnic groups, scholars point out that they speak the same language, have a history of intermarriage, and share many cultural characteristics. Traditionally, the differences between the two groups were occupational rather than ethnic. Agricultural people were considered Hutu, while the cattle-owning elite were identified as Tutsi. In theory, Tutsi were tall and thin, while Hutu were short and square, but in fact it is often impossible to tell one from the other. The 1933 requirement by the Belgians that everyone carry an identity card indicating tribal ethnicity as Tutsi or Hutu increased the distinction. Since independence, the landowning Tutsi aristocracy has dominated Burundi.

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Burundi was once part of German East Africa. Belgium won a League of Nations mandate in 1923, and subsequently Burundi, with Rwanda, was transferred to the status of a United Nations trust territory. In 1962, Burundi gained independence and became a kingdom under Mwami Mwambutsa IV, a Tutsi. A Hutu rebellion took place in 1965, leading to brutal Tutsi retaliations. Mwambutsa was deposed by his son, Ntaré V, in 1966. Ntaré in turn was overthrown the same year in a military coup by Premier Michel Micombero, also a Tutsi. In 1970–1971, a civil war erupted, leaving more than 100,000 Hutu dead.

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On Nov. 1, 1976, Lt. Col. Jean-Baptiste Bagaza led a coup and assumed the presidency. He suspended the constitution and announced that a 30-member Supreme Revolutionary Council would be the governing body. In Sept. 1987, Bagaza was overthrown by Maj. Pierre Buyoya, who became president. Ethnic hatred again flared in Aug. 1988, and about 20,000 Hutu were slaughtered. Buyoya, however, began reforms to heal the country’s ethnic rift. The Burundi Democracy Front’s candidate, Melchior Ndadaye, won the country’s first democratic presidential elections, held on June 2, 1993. Ndadaye, the first Hutu to assume power in Burundi, was killed within months during a coup. The second Hutu president, Cyprien Ntaryamira, was killed on April 6, 1994, when a plane carrying him and the Rwandan president was shot down. As a result, Hutu youth gangs began massacring Tutsi; the Tutsi-controlled army retaliated by killing Hutus.

Political system

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Burundi’s political system is a presidential representative democratic republic based upon a multi-party state. The President of Burundi is the head of state, head of government, and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The cabinet consists of the Council of Ministers appointed by president. In defiance of the constitution, the sitting President of Burundi Pierre Nkurunziza, was re-elected for a third term in the July 2015 presidential election.
The legislative branch is a bicameral parliament with a Senate and a National Assembly, both with a 5 years election cycle.

Languages

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Burundi’s official languages are Rundi (Kirundi), a Bantu language that is the standard medium of communication throughout the country, and French. Swahili, the language of trade, is widely spoken in Bujumbura, as is French. It is notable that Rundi is spoken by both the Hutu and Tutsi, who together form the overwhelming majority of the country’s population; such linguistic homogeneity is rare in sub-Saharan Africa.

Religions

The country has a relatively large Christian population, with about three-fifths of Burundians identifying as Roman Catholic and more than one-eighth identifying as Protestant. A large minority and even some Roman Catholics also practice traditional religion. Muslims constitute less than one-twentieth of the population. Church-state relations have been a focal point of ethnic tension since the 1970s. The government of the Second Republic (1976–87) attempted to curtail the social and educational activities of the Roman Catholic Church because its policies were thought to favour the Hutu over the Tutsi. After a military coup in 1987, the issue was temporarily defused, yet the church continues to be seen by many Tutsi as a dangerously subversive institution.

Natural resources

Nickel, uranium, rare earth oxides, peat, cobalt, copper, platinum (not yet exploited), vanadium, arable land, hydropower, niobium, tantalum, gold, tin, tungsten, kaolin, limestone. Exports: $122.8 million (2013 est.): coffee, tea, sugar, cotton, hides. Imports: $867.2 million (2013 est.): capital goods, petroleum products, foodstuffs. Major trading partners: Belgium, Pakistan, U.S., Rwanda, U.K., Democratic Republic of the Congo, China, Egypt, India, Kenya, Tanzania, Italy, Uganda, Zambia (2012).

Some key dates in Burundi’s history:

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1890 – The kingdoms of Urundi and neighbouring Ruanda (Rwanda) incorporated into German East Africa.

1916 – Belgian army occupies the area, which later becomes a Belgian protectorate.

1962 – Urundi is separated from Ruanda-Urundi and becomes independent.

1993-94 – Ethnic conflict escalates into full-scale civil war,

2015 – Unrest sparked by President Nkurunziza’s plans to stand for third term.

2020 – President of Burundi, Pierre Nkurun dies of heart attack.

2020 – President-elect Evariste Ndayishimiye, inaugurated on June 18.

Economy

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Burundi is a resource-poor country with an underdeveloped manufacturing sector. Agriculture accounts for over 40% of GDP and employs more than 90% of the population. Burundi’s primary exports are coffee and tea, which account for 90% of foreign exchange earnings. Burundi earnings are subject to fluctuations in weather and international coffee and tea prices, Burundi is heavily dependent on aid from bilateral and multilateral donors, as well as foreign exchange earnings from participation in the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM). Foreign aid represented 48% of Burundi’s national income in 2015, one of the highest percentages in Sub-Saharan Africa, but this figure decreased to 33.5% in 2016 due to political turmoil surrounding President NKURUNZIZA’s bid for a third term. Burundi joined the East African Community (EAC) in 2009.

Burundi faces several underlying weaknesses low governmental capacity, corruption, a high poverty rate, poor educational levels, a weak legal system, a poor transportation network, and overburdened utilities that have prevented the implementation of planned economic reforms. The purchasing power of most Burundians has decreased as wage increases have not kept pace with inflation, which reached approximately 18% in 2017.

Real GDP growth dropped precipitously following political events in 2015 and has yet to recover to pre-conflict levels. Continued resistance by donors and the international community will restrict Burundi’s economic growth as the country deals with a large current account deficit.

Tourism

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Burundi is an incongruous mix of soaring mountains, languid lakeside communities. Burundians have an irrepressible joie de vivre, and their smiles are as infectious as a rhythm laid down by a drummer from Les Tambourinaires.

Kibira National Park

Situated at the top of the apex Zaire-Nile, with its 40,000 ha (hectares) of preserved forest land, is the largest completely untouched natural area in Burundi. Its forest constitutes a real shelter for chimpanzees, baboons, and monkeys (cercophitecus and colobus) scattering away at the approach of human beings and defying all laws of equilibrium and gravity. The park is criss-crossed by a network of 180km of tracks and paths mainly used by guard car patrols and motorized tourists. The guards of the park will scout for you in the wood undercover and you will be able to discover the fascinating attraction of the primeval forest and the varied, melodious songs of birds. Mountain chains hide thermal springs, and access to the park is made through the tea plantations of Teza and Rwegura which count among the top scenic beauties of this region.

Ruvubu National Park

The National Park of Ruvubu lies on both sides of the Ruvubu River and is limited by high rise mountains. It was freed from human inhabitants and returned to the wild completely. The track and length of the path network is approximately 100km and includes many observation lookouts. You will be accommodated in your newly erected chosen camp, then you will be able to tell your friends when you are back home about tracking buffaloes along these trails where the joyful, gleeful songs of all the African birds accompany you. You may think of it as springing forth at every winding turn on the path.

Rusizi Natural Reserve

The Natural Reserve of Rusizi may be your first nature trek in Burundi as it is very near the capital city of Bujumbura. The River Delta extends over 500ha of vegetation made of Phragmites mauritianus. It is a natural shelter for families of antelopes and hippopotamuses that come here in quest of grazing land. At the end of the track if you are lucky enough you may meet with a few crocodiles fast asleep on the golden sand of the river banks. The Rusizi Palmgroves (situated on the Cibitoke road 10km away from Bujumbura) is an exceptional landscape that will no doubt make your mind drift away from your day to day preoccupations. It offers to the visitor rich vegetation made of euphorbia, thorny bushes and tall palm trees of the Hyphaena bengalensis var ventricosa specie, and a completely adapted environment gratified by only a few sparse rains. Right in the deepest part of the reserve you will be able to admire the natural ponds left by the Rusizi meanders. This place is a paradise for birds which come there by the hundreds and feed themselves by dive-fishing. If you are patient enough you will be able to see some hippopotamuses paddling in the shallow waters feeling at home as well as on the ground.

Bururi Natural Reserve

The Natural reserve of Bururi is a 3,300ha expanse of altitude damp forest. The town of Bururi offers visitors this wonderful panorama. To visit the park first go to the INECN office in Bururi, it’s not common knowledge among Bururians that you have to do this first. If you are told that there is no entry fee and no guides are available, this is not true. At the office you can pay the entry fee of BIF5,000 and arrange a guide (BIF5,000). In this place there are about 117 different species of birds, and 25 different species of mammals have been identified in a forestland surrounding of multifarious vegetation. On a walking circuit along the botanical lanes and trails of this forest the visitor will fully enjoy the wild coolness of mountains densely covered with trees of many different species. This region is only 33km distant from Roumonge. The road through it will take you from the lakes along miles of breathtaking panoramas.

Vyanda Natural Reserve 

This is a forest reserve that can be accessed from the town of Rumonge. The main attraction here is the ability to see chimpanzees. Currently the facilities for visitors are almost non-existent but if you go to the INECN office (remember to pronounce it the French way when asking for directions, roughly “ENCN” pronounced the English way) in Rumonge you should be able to organise a visit. It’s generally set up for people with their own transport but a visit by local transport can be arranged. Expect to pay BIF10,000 for entry and guide if you see chimps, BIF5,000 if you don’t. You should be able to arrange transport from Rumonge for around BIF15,000 for a return trip. The chimps here are not habituated to humans so don’t come expecting the close encounters that are possible in some places.

Rwihinda Lake Natural Reserve

The Rwihinda Lake Natural Reserve is a real sanctuary for migratory aquatic birds which come to the site by the thousands to reproduce. All these now protected birds can nest more and more on these green swamps and islets of the lake. Crested cranes and herons live a peaceful life there. The visitor can drift along on barges to approach many species of birds without risk of frightening them.

Nyakazu Break and the Karera Falls

The natural Forest Reserves of Roumonge, Kigwena and Mugara are in process of development to enable chimpanzees and cercopithecus monkeys to find enough food to stay there and procreate. The thermal waterfalls situated in the Mugara reserve will give you a natural massage. The beaches of Tanganyika nearby will welcome you for a well deserved swim and rest.