Burundi: recent political and security developments

Since 2010 President Jean-Pierre Nkurunziza and his CNDD-FDD government have been at loggerheads with the main opposition parties, which boycotted presidential and parliamentary elections that year. The stand-off has raised concerns that Burundi’s status as a ‘post-conflict’ country might be in jeopardy. These concerns have been compounded by occasional armed skirmishes between the security forces and remaining rebel groups in border areas. In addition, the government has been heavily criticised by anti-corruption and human rights groups. However, with the next elections due in 2015, in recent months there has been some progress in terms of promoting political dialogue between the government and opposition.

The UK has ended its aid programme to Burundi as a consequence of the bilateral aid review. This decision, which has caused considerable controversy, is not discussed in any depth here, although in section 5 there are links to an important report on the subject by the International Development Committee, which was published in late 2011, and the subsequent government response.