Burundi celebrates 60 years of Independence
Burundi has celebrated the 60th anniversary of its independence in Bujumbura with a military parade and guests of honor from around the world.
Burundi Independence Day is celebrated in July 1 every year.
The President, Evariste Ndayishimiye during the ceremony, hailed the new Burundi after 60 years, advocating a better tomorrow for the central African country.
President Ndayishimiye said; “After 60 years, Burundi is no longer the same, it is a new Burundi, it is for this reason that we must cherish the chapter that we have started, we must not deviate from the good path that we have taken.”
He further reckoned the underdevelopment status of the country linking colonizations as the root of ethnical vices like wars.
According to him, this has relegated the country to the bottom of the economic ladder. Burundi is ranked as the poorest country in the world by the World Bank.
The President said; “This colonisation divided us, and this had many consequences. Burundians killed one another, the Burundian authorities did not understand who the Burundian people were and organised the murders themselves.”
President Ndayishimiye warned individuals who propagate instability against doing so and further warned western countries against harboring such individuals.
He said; “People who disturb our countries should not be welcomed in these Western countries. As long as these people have countries in which they can settle down and live in peace, they will continue to disturb African countries. So, if the international community wants peace in Africa, we ask them to not welcome on their soil anyone who disturbs African countries.”
President Ndayishimiye was elected in May 2020, raising hopes that the iron-fisted and repressive state would open up, which have since been dashed.
He succeeded the late president Pierre Nkurunziza, whose insistence on a third term in office in 2015 plunged the country into a serious and prolonged political crisis marked by summary executions, disappearances, arbitrary arrests and torture of dissidents.
Africa news./ Mercy Chukwudiebere
