9 February 2008
Bujumbura — The ruling party, CNDD-FDD, has entered in the last phase in its plan to destitute Alice Nzomukunda from the post of the first Vice-President of the national assembly.
On 8 February, the speaker of the national assembly changed the agenda of the day. Hon. Pie Ntavyohanyuma told members of parliament that the post of the first vice-president of the national assembly was vacant. Opposition parties still reject this.
Since her dismissal from the party that she had vehemently defended in various circumstances, Hon Alice Nzomukunda has struggled to secure her post. She has already addressed correspondences to various competent personalities of the ruling party and the interior ministry in which she rejects her recent dismissal from the party without any charges on her. She also alerted the Inter-parliamentarian association based in Geneva in a letter that she entitled â-šAlerte".
The ruling party has already secured all ingredients to destitute Alice Nzomukunda except a replacement. All opposition parties which deny having any interests in the destitution of Alice Nzomukunda, are not ready to support her. Frodebu seeks to have the chairman of the parliamentarian group as the second vice president of the national assembly in replacement of Prof. Didace Kiganahe who would eventually be appointed as ambassador to New York. In return, CNDD-FDD would support the appointment of Frédéric Nzovuginyumvira as a member of East African parliament. Uprona has also the same aims. All the opposition parties hide their aims under the respect of the Constitution.
It is plain that the destitution of this protégée of the European Union might cause the whole parliamentarian bureau to crumble. CNDD-FDD is currently short of Hutu intellectuals to replace Alice Nzomukunda. Her potential replacement remains Hon Denise Sindokotse, a Tutsi from Bujumbura province who along with Didace Kiganahe would create imbalance in the direction of the national assembly with regard to the respect of regional and ethnic parameters.
CNDD-FDD has so far weakened itself in its search to strengthen itself. This party whose prominent members are rather bush officers than real politicians is trying to stand firm on the eve of the 2010 in promoting personalities dedicated to the party than the country. Hon. Alice Nzomukunda has performed better in parliament than when she was the Second Vice-President of the Republic. Her stand on some issues such as the so-called FNL dissidents who were stationed at Cibitoke and talks with PALIPEHUTU-FNL has displeased other members of the CNDD-FDD.
The dismissal of the Alice Nzomukunda from the ruling party is still spangled with many mysteries. The party never elaborated the reasons behind this dismissal. Hussein Radjabu who lost the direction of CNDD-FDD on 7 February 2007, and who faces major charges as insulting the head of state and attempt at the state's security, is still an uncontested member of this party.
Although there is no opinion poll, the ruling is on the decline. Even the increase of 34&percnt to the salaries of civil servants seems to have no positive effect. Faced with this decline, there is the information that the police deny indicates that the ruling party is busy setting up a militia to terrorize the population in 2010 elections.
All its past errors continue to work in disfavour of this party which illustrated itself in major crimes as the extrajudicial killings of 31 persons in Muyinga, the illicit sale of the presidential plane, the imprisonment of former top authorities on fabricated charges, major cases of economic embezzlement and corruption. The CNDD-FDD led government has provided cover to the perpetrators of those crimes. But with the revival of the case of Muyinga where the rot hidden under the carpet is being exposed for everyone to see, CNDD-FDD has more to lose. Its management of the country assets as an armed group where those who stole many cows were promoted is jeopardizing it as it is gradually becoming clear that the presidential police have played its part in the growing violence that continues to shake Burundi.
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