© AFP / Esdras Meet
Street in Bujumbura, capital of Burundi.
The controversy is mounting around a questionnaire sent by the Minister of the Interior and Public Security to many Burundian and foreign officials working in the country.
The questionnaire seeks to identify each member of their staff, down to the smallest, by several elements including their name, age, province of origin or since when they were hired. But it is above all the “ethnicity” column of this document which was sent at the beginning of the week and which leaked to the press which raises questions and concerns.
Initially, the all-powerful Burundian Minister of the Interior and Public Security had aimed broadly, from public administration to companies with public participation, including foreign NGOs.
But he had to backtrack very quickly on those organizations. Several of them have refused for three years to make an ethnic census of their staff, denouncing a request that violates their principles.
« Minister’s demand has come at a worse time as Gitega expects European Union budget sanctions to be lifted soon », Explains a diplomatic source in Bujumbura.
General Gervais Ndirakobuca therefore broke two days ago with a new circular which this time excludes foreign NGOs from this count, but for the other categories, the directive is to go quickly.
A few officials have already started to “ require of their staff for answers to this questionnaire, according to a union source.
The Arusha peace agreement of 2000 provided for quotas of 60% for the Hutu majority and 40% for the Tutsi in the government, in Parliament and in the high administration, and 50-50 in the defense corps and security. Several concerned did not hide their ” deep concern, they say they are afraid of bearing the brunt of this policy.
A member of the Burundian Senate who sponsored wanted to be reassuring. The Senate plays its constitutional role, he says, recalling that the fundamental law changed in 2018. “ The objective is to ensure that the balances provided for by law are respected “, he explained.
