Election of Pierre Nkurunziza, a Gift to the Nationby Lucien Nimubona
After all opponents being vanquished in local elections of May 24, 2010, Pierre Nkurunziza remains the only candidate to presidential elections scheduled for June 28, 2010. This is the second time Pierre Nkurunziza is elected unopposed. In 2005, not a single individual dared compete with him. All knew that Burundian people needed a president able to keep peace and order in the country. They had had democratic Presidents who had neither strength nor means to keep peace and order in the country. Some were killed helplessly while others were overthrown. In 2005, Nkurunziza came as a strong man and opposition could not afford him. The same situation happens in 2010 when all other candidates pulled out of the electoral process. They are right. In fact, a competition with a candidate regarded as liberator of democracy would mean a loss of time and money. The main reason for this landslide victory is that the ruling party brought a lot of change to the Burundian political life. Cndd-fdd came to power after four decades of hostility, when post-colonial dictators oppressed citizens. Rather than seeing the image of dream which was a land of freedom, a land of law and order, independent Burundians lived in a nightmare of man’s inhumanity. Thousands of Hutu civilians were slaughtered. Survivors were forced to choose between exile and submission. Those who chose submission lived as slaves in their own country. Dictators Micombero, Bagaza and Buyoya resembled Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler and Slobodan Milesevic. They imitated them tit for tat. They strongly rejected equality of citizens. The central ideology of their military junta was the control and crush of Hutu civilians.
For decades, hate for Hutus had no boundaries. Hutus were prejudiced against others: “lazy, ugly, stupid, greedy and untrustworthy. Hutus don’t like school. Hutus only want to till the soil. Hutus cannot join the army as there are no boots that can fit them”. Hutus were so stereotyped that at a given time, it became too hard for them to try different ways of behaving. Clothed with shame, they quitted schools and showed no interest to join the army. These stereotypes made many people feel an inferiority complex especially that they were abused by rulers. In all institutions of the state, Hutus constituted a small minority, sometimes a minority of one. The only institutions dominated by Hutus were prisons. They had to accept terror, threats, humiliations and insults of all kinds. They suffered gravely. Since 1993 though, when Buyoya’s military junta was combing through the country killing frodebu leaders and innocent civilians, young patriots stood up for self-defence. Their commitment to democracy saved lives of millions of citizens. Even if it was necessary to sacrifice lives of people, the sacrifice was made and welcomed by those sacrificed. This strong commitment to the restoration of democracy made citizens so determined that they would use everything in their power to root out the evil of oppression. According to them, it was better to have war for a short time than to live in sorrows for their whole lives. Indeed, it was nonsense to live a hopeless life watching beloved ones dying horrible death. The political crises ended with free democratic elections that brought cndd-fdd and Pierre Nkurunziza to power. They came not only to heal wounds of dictatorships and oppression but also to reconcile citizens who had been killing one another for several years. Nkurunziza proved that he is a better fit to lead the country.His achievements are incredible. He responded to most crucial problems of Burundian society. He did not kill the time. He proved that he did not come to power just to cut ribbons. He came to work and he got the work done in time. He worked so hard that he solved a great deal of problems. When other regimes were mainly concerned with building prisons and detention centers, cndd-fdd built more than 1000 Elementary and Secondary Schools in a five year term. They improved the country at all levels. No one could imagine that a government can achieve a lot more than achievements of 48 years of independence. In the campaign for his re-election, Nkurunziza promised to go much further to double achievements of the first term. Adasonga mbele kabisa. Though he is living in the now, he revives the past history by fixing and rebuilding a country destroyed by years of dictatorships and oppression. Citizens love him so much that they still want him for at least another term. The circumstance that he spent years suffering with them made him credible and trustworthy. Working hand in hand with oppressed citizens surely intensified his patriotism. He gained a good deal of concrete experience fighting injustice. For several years, he lived with common people, suffered with them and marched together towards democracy. Even in power, he never forgot the misery of common people. He tried as much as he could to keep touch with his people. While former Presidents were rarely seen in rural areas, Nkurunziza plays soccer with citizens, worships with them, builds schools with them and performs many other duties with them.He is compassionate and committed himself to the well-being of Burundian citizens. For these reasons, Burundian citizens are determined to support him in his efforts to lead the country to peace and reconciliation. No citizen of good will would not welcome this precious gift to the people of Burundi. God Bless The People