Burundi ruler Evariste Ndayishimiye aka Gen. Neva, a former commander of the Burundian FDD rebels during the civil war with a record of committing serious crimes against humanity from 1995 to 2002, has closed the Burundian side of the border with Rwanda.
The ramifications of this move are dire for the Burundian economy, which already struggles with being the world’s poorest. Ironically, “Gen. Neva” justifies this action by accusing Rwanda of harboring RED-Tabara, a Burundian rebel group operating in the Hauts plateaux of Uvira-Fizi and Itombwe/Mwenga in DRC.
To begin with, the DRC is harboring various militant groups, among them the likes of RED-Tabara, a rebel faction opposing General Neva’s Junta. The truth is that these insurgent groups, including FOREBU(Led by General Godefroid Niyombare), and FNL( the military wing of the pro-Hutu PALIPEHUTU) have established their presence in the Itombwe sector, precisely at a location called Nandjale within the Basimukindje 2 group, firmly within the DRC’s borders and not in Rwanda, as General Neva vehemently claims. Instead of confronting his ally Tshisekedi, who shelters rebels openly antagonistic to him on Congolese soil, General Neva chose to hit the Burundian economy by closing the border with Rwanda.
Furthermore, in the aftermath of the RED-Tabara rebels’ assault on a village near Gatumba, just opposite Uvira in the DRC where RED-Tabara is active, General Neva demonstrated a disregard for the facts. Rather than addressing the source of the attack, he opted to engage in baseless claims, asserting that these Burundian rebels originated from Rwanda. This diversionary tactic, however, serves the sole purpose of justifying the absence of Burundian soldiers tasked with securing the vulnerable population. In reality, the actual reason for the lack of Burundian troops lies in their deployment to North Kivu. This came after Tshisekedi filled General Neva’s coffers but at the cost of leaving Burundian territory vulnerable.
Moreover, RED-Tabara currently occupies territory within DRC, where they receive training and financial support from Melchiade Biremba to overthrow the military junta in Gitega. Recent declarations by Christophe Lutundula Apala confirm that the Tshisekedi regime acknowledges RED-Tabara’s presence on Congolese soil. In fact, despite joined efforts by the Congolese army, assisted by Burundian forces and the Imbonerakure militiamen—formerly the youth wing of the ruling CNDD-FDD party transformed into a paramilitary militia in 2014—the group has persisted in the DRC for three years. The reason is that these forces, originally tasked with eliminating RED-Tabara, were redirected to North Kivu to engage in Tshisekedi’s civil war under General Neva’s directives.
In summary, Burundi is struggling with a shortage of everything following the closure of its border, including essential commodities like fuel, beer, sugar, and chemical fertilizers. These hardships can be solely attributed to General Neva’s selfish agreements made with Congolese Leader Antoine Felix Tshisekedi during his visit to Burundi in May 2022. Meanwhile, innocent Burundians are sent as mercenaries to die in Tshisekedi’s civil war in North Kivu, far from the actual battleground where Burundian armed groups operate.
ellenkampire