On
Burundi, Story Behind UN
Nothing on
Oscar
Ntasano,
Part-Time
Kafando 1-Year
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Exclusive Series
UNITED NATIONS,
April 27 -- While
on Burundi the
UN Secretariat
refused to
confirm its
proposal of
Michel Kafando
as part-time
envoy, it
still has or
provides no
information
about the
disappearance
of a Burundian
working with
it, nor so far
on visas
denied. On the
latter, Inner
City Press
late on April
27 learned
that Department of Political
Affairs
spokesman
"Jose Luis" is
belated
drafting a
statement.
Which makes
the UN's
abandonment of
its prospective
landlord Oscar
Ntasana all
the more
outrageous. Before
Ntasana's
"disappearance,"
Inner
City Press is
informed by
sources,
Burundian
authorities harassed him,
accusing
him of
digging
tunnels to
DRC, arresting
workers on his
property
before he was
disappeared.
And now the UN
says
nothing: shameful. As
is the
deal with
Albert Shingiro by
Jeffrey
"Everything
Must Go"
Feltman that Kafando,
even
part-time,would
have a job on
Burundi only
to the end of
2017. Acquiescence
in genocide:
hasn't the UN
done this
before? On
April 27 Inner
City Press
asked UN
Spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric, video
here, UN
transcript here:
Inner City
Press: I’d
asked you, I
think, on
Monday about
Michel Kafando
as envoy to
Burundi.
And now the
media there is
reporting that
he has taken
the job le
remplacement
Jamal Benomar
en fin de
mandat.
So I’m just
wondering,
what… what…
Spokesman:
I think the
announcement
of a
remplacement/no
remplacement
will come from
here, so
people are
free to
speculate
until there’s
an official
announcement
either in
paper or from
myself, from
the
Secretary-General
himself.
Inner
City Press:
Unless it
comes from Mr.
Kafando.
Spokesman:
I think I just
answered that.
Inner
City Press:
Okay.
What I wanted
to ask is that
I’d asked
about Burundi,
and there’s
some people
there… it’s a
pretty big
story in the
country that
this Oscar
Ntasano, who
was renting
his property
to the UN,
has… had his
driver killed
and is… is
missing.
So people are
saying
basically he
was targeted
because he was
working with
the UN.
What I wanted
to know, is
there anyone
in the UN
system looking
into this
disappearance?
Spokesman:
I can’t…
I haven’t
gotten any
specific
information
from our
colleagues in
Burundi.
Obviously, I
think anyone’s
murder or
disappearances
needs to be
investigated.
Inner
City Press:
And the D2
Vivian van de
Perre…
Spokesman:
I don’t have
any… I don’t
have any
update for you
on that.
And even
the "open"
meeting of the
Burundi
Peacebuilding
Configuration on April
26, Inner City
Press was
banned by UN
Security
then a PBC
staffer. On
April 24
Inner City
Press asked UN
Spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric, UN
transcript here: Inner
City Press: in
Burundi, a
gentleman
named Oscar
Ntasano, who
is running a
building… a
set of
buildings that
the UN has…
has used and
was being
renovated for
him has been
abducted, and
some people
believe that
he's
dead. He
was abducted,
and a car of
his was found
with a dead
body in
it. So,
I'm wondering,
does the UN…
and people
there are
saying this is
a person that
was basically
maybe targeted
because he was
seeking to
rent his
property to
the UN.
What's the
UN's response?
Spokesman:
I don't
know.
I've not heard
of this
gentleman.
I can see if I
find out
anything.
Inner
City Press:
And also, I
mean, in terms
of not hearing
things, I
wanted to know
whether the…?
Spokesman:
That's my
specialty.
Inner
City Press:
Yeah,
whether the
D-2 head of
office of… for
the UN in
Burundi has…
my
understanding
is that it's
been six
months that
she's tried…
she's tried to
get into the
country, but
I'm wondering,
what… from the
top levels of
the… has the
38th Floor…
has anyone
tried to speak
to the country
to actually
get this
being-paid D2
head of office
in Burundi
into the
country, or is
this a de
facto persona
non grata?
Spokesman:
If you send me
the name, I
can check on
the status.
Inner
City Press immediately emailed the name, and
the next day on April 26 asked, UN
transcript here:
Inner City Press: On Burundi, I gave you
the name of the D2 head of office…
Spokesman: I don’t have anything for
you on Burundi.
Question: And I wanted to know,
there was a meeting of the Peacebuilding
Commission on Burundi today
downstairs. It wasn’t listed in the
Journal as closed; sign didn’t say it was
closed, but security said could not be
covered by the media. And I wanted
to know what… what… what is the policy of…
of those meetings? And why isn’t
that… why was security blocking coverage…?
[inaudible]
Spokesman: I don’t know if the
meeting was open or closed. I’d be
happy to look into it.
Like
he looked into the D2 blocked name? By
the end of April 26, when Inner City Press
was by the UN Department of Public
Information removed from covering
the UN's Africa Peacekeeping
meeting, there was no answer.
UNICEF
has after five
days answered
Inner City
Press on the hate-speech
government in
the UNICEF
shirt. On
April 20,
Inner City
Press asked: "please
state what the
rules are for
use of
UNICEF's logo,
in this
instance on
the joint
Burundi /
UNICEF shirt
worn in this
photo worn by
the governor
of Makamba
province who
last week
called on
residents to 'eliminate'
rebels so fuel
'won't
be wasted by
having them
transferred to
the police.' How
does UNICEF
feel to be
associated
with hate
speech in this
way? Did
UNICEF give
the governor
this shirt?"
On April 25,
UNICEF
spokesperson
Joe English
responded:
"On Burundi,
please find
below a
response to
your
questions. *
Please state
what the rules
are for use of
UNICEF's logo? The
unauthorized
use of the
UNICEF name
and logo is
against
international
law and is
expressly
forbidden. How
does UNICEF
feel to be
associated
with hate
speech in this
way?
UNICEF
condemns all
forms of hate
speech.
Did UNICEF
give the
governor this
shirt?
The t-shirt
was part of
the education
campaign,
which took
place in
September 2015
as the new
government was
being
established.
As such, this
would have
been the
period when
Gad Niyukuri
was
transitioning
from his past
role to his
new one, and
he would quite
naturally
still have
been involved
in the
back-to-school
campaign and
therefore
received one
of the
t-shirts for
the campaign.
The photo does
not have any
relationship
with the news
item of April
2017." And
there it is. It is
reported that
"According to
the residents
of the
Kazirabageni
zone, Gad
Niyukuri would
have urged
residents to
eliminate the
rebels
"instead of
wasting fuel
by
transferring
them to the
police.'"
On Burundi, France
which as UN
Security
Council
penholder has
accomplished
little on the
issue has a
new proposal,
sources
exclusively told
Inner City
Press, which
it exclusively
published on
April 20: to nominate
the former
transitional
president of
Burkina Faso
Michel Kafando
as a UN
envoy
specifically
on Burundi.
And now
Burundi's
Ambassador to
the UN Albert
Shingiro
has answered
Inner City
Press that
"Burundi is
very
comfortable
with the
intention of
the UNSG to
appoint H.E
Michel Kafando
as his special
Envoy." See
reply tweet, here.
Now the Pierre
Nkurunziza
government's
approval of a
"Special
Envoy" is
explained to
Inner City
Press with
disgruntled
Security
Council sourcing
as due to Kafando's
position being
part time,
"When Actually
Employed,"
based in
Burkina Faso
with human
rights not to
be mentioned.
On April 24,
Inner
City Press asked UN
holdover
spokesman
Stephane Dujarric
again about
it, UN
transcript here: Inner
City Press: on
Burundi, I’d
asked you on
Friday about
the proposal,
which is now
by… to name
Michel Kafando
as an envoy to
Burundi.
You said you
had no
comment.
Since then,
the Ambassador
of Burundi has
told me that
the Government
supports the
proposal.
It seems like
it’s clearly a
proposal.
But what I
wanted to ask
you and I’d
like you…
maybe… if not
from this
podium, before
it’s
finalized, is
it, in fact,
when actually
employed, a
part-time
position
that’s being
proposed?
And, if so,
can you
explain what
I’m told that
DPA
[Department of
Political
Affairs], when
it informed
Council
members of the
proposal,
didn’t mention
that it’s part
time? So
I think it’s
important to
know, what is
the proposal?
Spokesman:
I will try to
find out more
information.
I have nothing
from
here.
Again,
nothing. And ever
more dwindling
commitment to
human
rights or even
just transparency.
The
source says the
Security
Council
members told
of the
appointment
were NOT told
it was "When
Actually
Employed."
We'll have
more on this.
After
publishing the
exclusive, on
April 21 Inner
City Press
asked
French
Ambassador to
the UN
Francois
Delattre about it.
He smiled
and said
"bonne
question."
Then Inner
City Press
asked the UN's
holdover
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric, who
refused
to comment.
From the UN transcript:
Inner
City
Press: I
wanted to ask
you on
Burundi.
Inner City
Press has
reported and I
believe has
some
confirmation
from the
French Mission
that there is
a proposal by
France and
possibly the
EU for an UN
envoy to
Burundi,
specifically
Burundi only,
not conflict
prevention:
Michel
Kafando, the
former
transitional
President of
Burkina Faso,
and I wanted
to know from
you whether
the
Secretary-General
has discussed
this proposal
with the
proponents and
if he thinks
given the
urgency of the
situation if
it’s a good
idea and what
the next steps
would be?
Spokesman:
I have no
comments on
that.
But later on
April 21 a UN
official told
Inner City
Press that
Burundi's
Pierre
Nkurunziza has
approved it.
Another
diplomat told
Inner City
Press that
Burundi's
Ambassador
Albert Shingiro
was summoned
to the UN
Department of
Political
Affairs. We'll
have more on
this. The
UN has sunk so
low that the
lead spokesman
for Secretary
General Antonio
Guterres
Stephane
Dujarric on
April 10
refused to
even take a
Press question
about Burundi,
where the UN
itself says
there is a
risk of
genocide. When
Inner City
Press said
"Can I ask a
question about
Burundi,"
where there
increased hate
speech
amid a warning
from other
parts of the
UN of a threat
of genocide,"
Dujarric
replied, "No,
we're done." Video here, contrasted.
On April 18
another part of the UN system
describes some of the events
that Inner City Press asked
and sought to ask for
Guterres' position and action
on: " On 1 April this year in
the northern province of
Kayanza, around 2,500
Imbonerakure reportedly
marched from Kayanza football
stadium along the main road
chanting similar slogans,
inciting rape and violence
against opponents. Reports
suggest that senior officials
were present at this rally.
Reports also suggest that
similar chanting occurs
regularly at weekly
Imbonerakure meetings in the
southern province of Makamba.
On 3 April, during a meeting
on security, the Governor of
Makamba reportedly urged the
local population to maintain
security, to arrest any
suspicious person, to check
every bag and suitcase and to
'eliminate immediately' every
person presumed to be a rebel.
On 7 April, the President of
the Senate is alleged to have
incited people to violence in
Makamba, reportedly calling
for all suspected rebels to be
'silently collected.' This is
the latest of many such
speeches where the President
of the Senate has reportedly
used coded language, with its
roots in the mass violence
from Burundi’s past, to incite
followers to violence." So
what about Guterres' lead
spokesman refusing to answer
the Press on Burundi? What
about the UN's Department of
Public Information still
requiring Inner City Press
to have a minder even to cover
its Rwanda genocide
commemoration, then requiring
Inner City Press to leave
mid-way through? What about
the continuing failure of all
parts of the UN system -
including in Geneva Prince
Zeid and his spokesman Rupert
Colville - on the abuses in
Cameroon including the now 91
day Internet cut? On Burundi,
is it any surprise that the
East African Community's
Secretariat, appointed by
Burundi's Pierre Nkurunziza, mocks
UN Secretary General Antonio
Guterres' report on Burundi?
And that there is no response
from the UN? This is how low
the UN has sunk. Dujarric is
still spokesman after this,
and after playing his role in
evicting
and still restricting
the Press, which has been raised.
After in Burundi a hate-video
of the ruling party's militia
calling for the impregnation
or rape of opposition women
was widely seen, when Inner
City Press asked the UN about
it on April 5 the UN said it
had not been aware, ironically
thanked Inner City Press -
which it has evicted and still
restricts - and said
something would be done. What?
From the UN
transcript:
Inner City
Press: on Burundi, but there's
a… a… a video has emerged of
the ruling party militia
talking about impregnating all
the women of all people that
don't agree with the militia's
platform for pro… for Pierre
Nkurunziza. So, given
things that the UN has said in
the past, what's the response
to this? And what is the
UN doing currently in the
last, you know, two weeks or
so on the situation in
Burundi?
Associate Spokesperson:
Thank you for bringing this to
our attention. We
weren't aware of this
video. And, if true,
that's very highly
troubling. And we have,
as you know, a team on the
ground that I'm sure is
looking into this, and
hopefully, will take some
action.
What
action? When the UK held the
wrap-up session for its month
as President of the UN
Security Council on March 31,
at first no one on its team
volunteered to speak on
Burundi. Then the
month's weak Council Press
Statement was cited, with no
mention that of the
non-deployment of the 226
Police the Council ostensibly
mandated in a resolution. Also
on March 31, Inner City Press
asked Tanzania's Foreign
Minister Augustine Mahiga
about the Arusha talks. His
response is on
video, here. Off camera,
he told Inner City Press
should be allowed to chose
which country's or countries'
police it would like deployed.
When the
Burundi configuration of the
UN Peacekeeping Commission
last met, UN Human Rights
testified that the country's
SNR tortures people based on
ethnicity, by making them walk
on glass and pouring gasoline
into their wounds. Then
Burundi's Ambassador Albert
Shingiro, who recent placed
the UN or at least Ban Ki-moon
into the "Axis of Evil," took
the floor and denied it all. Periscope video here.
The Special Adviser he and
Pierre Nkurunziza are seeking
to have removed was not on the
podium. (We noted that Burundi
has Persona Non Grata-ed or
recused his predecessors,
Abdullah Battily, Carolyn
McAskie, Parfait
Onanga-Anyanga, Youssef
Mahmoud, Said Djinnit.)
The chair, Ambassador Jurg
Lauber of Switzerland, is set
to visit Burundi from March 27
to March 31, while others in
the UN system are banned or
delayed.
Also
speaking was France, but not
through its top Ambassador
Francois Delattre or even his
deputy Alexis Lamek. It called
the mind France's approach in
Cameroon, where its ambassador
Thibault last week congratulated
Paul Biya for a non-existent
dialogue with the Anglophone
areas. Why isn't at least UN
Peacekeeping working on these
areas, where the Internet has
been cut off by the government
for 56 days and counting?
Watch this site.
On March
13, when the UN again refused
to answer about Cameroon,
Inner City Press asked about
its Special Adviser on
Conflict Prevention and
Burundi, UN
transcript here:
Inner City Press:
just this
morning, the ambassador of
Burundi said again that… that
they reject and… and… and
completely the Special
Adviser… seems to be a big
standoff between the
Government and the
Secretariat. What's the
status of the letters the
President sent, that Mr.
[Albert] Shingiro sent, and
the Secretary-General, is he
trying to speak to the
Government to get them to… to…
to allow people in or where's
it stand?
Spokesman: There's no
update to what the
Secretary-General reported to
the Security Council not too
long ago.
Burundi now wants to change
all of the UN staff in the
country. Meanwhile, the UN's
dysfunction on Burundi has
reached the point where its
spokesman can refuses to
answer three Press questions
in a row about the country,
then run off the podium,
saying "I'm lazy." Video
here.
Secretary
General Antonio Guterres in a
delayed February 23 report
says, of Pierre Nkurunziza,
"an attempt by the president
to seek a fourth term in
office under the current
circumstances would risk
intensifying the crisis and
undermining collective efforts
to find a sustainable
solution."
Burundi's
Ambassador to the UN Albert
Shingiro, hitting back at even
the use of the term "four
term," tweeted:
"With the intention of
destabilizing #Burundi in 20
the same axis of evil that
failed regime change
in15,invents another magic
word'4th term'."
On
February 27, Inner City Press
asked UN Spokesman Dujarric
about this quote, and for a
second time about the UN
training Burundi security
forces in CAR on drone usage.
Dujarric said he didn't think
of the UN as in an axis of
evil. He didn't answer on the
fourth term, word invention,
or the UN providing drone
training. We'll have more on
this.
Pressed, Shingiro has said he
wasn't called Antonio Guterres
part of an Axis of Evil, since
he wasn't UN Secretary General
in 2015. But could hapless,
corruption plagued Ban Ki-moon
be a part? More like the Axis
of Mediocrity.
And did
Guterres really "invent"
fourth term as a "magic word"?
Or wouldn't a Pierre
Nkurunziza run for election in
2020 be a run for a fourth
term? How will the UN react to
this? For now, Guterres
spokesman Dujarric - who has
previously been the face not
only for AoE Ban Ki-moon but
also Kofi Annan before that -
won't answer the most basic
question. Dujarric too is a
fourth term man. We'll have
more on this -- and this, that
Shingiro previously outed his
own second Twitter account by
tweeting a photo with the UN's
evicter in chief Cristina
Gallach, here.
Axis of Evil, indeed.
Now the UN
is training the Burundi
security forces in how to use
drones; Army spokesman Gaspard
Baratuza -- himself
repatriated from the UN
Mission in the Central African
Republic after Inner City
Press questions (credited on
AllAfrica.com here)
bragged about it and refused
to answer about Burundi's use
of drones.
So Inner
City Press on February 24
asked UN Spokesman Stephane
Dujarric why Herve Ladsous' UN
is training this already
problematic Burundi contingent
in the use of drones. Video
here from 25:50.
Dujarric didn't substantively
respond to that question and
on Inner City Press next
question about Ladsous,
Dujarric ran off the podium
and out of the room. UN DPI
under Cristina Gallach
produced a video with the
audio of the question cut, see
here
at end. This is today's UN.
In
Burundi, government
electricity and water
authority (Regideso) employee
Lydia Nibogora was murdered
and dumped. Sources Inner city
Press has come to trust say it
is because she blew the
whistle on corruption. There
should be an investigation,
but where is the UN? We'll
have more on this.
Inner City Press
on February 17 asked, video
here, UN
transcript here.
Inner City Press
on February 16 asked, UN
transcript here:
Inner City Press:
the Government itself has said
it's not going to
participate. So I wanted
to know if you have any kind
of update to what you said
yesterday. And, also, a
Burundian minister has visited
refugees in Uganda. This
has given rise to protests,
because there's a sense that…
that, by visiting people that
fled the country in fear of
their lives, there's
essentially a threat to them
to be repatriated or refouled
back to Burundi. I
wanted to know if the UN has a
view on that. And,
finally, I'd asked some weeks
ago about a guy called Budigi,
a Burundian military figure
that was involved in the
burning down of Radio Publique
Africaine. And it's,
again, reported by Radio
Publique Africaine that this
Nicolas Budigi is part of UN
CAR, the UN Mission in Central
African Republic.
And so Stéphane had said he'd
look into it. I wanted
to know, have you found out
that this… whether or not… can
you confirm that the guy is
there? And, if not, what
does it say about the vetting
that's being conducted by DPKO
(Department of Peacekeeping
Operations)?
Deputy Spokesman: Yes,
our peacekeeping colleagues
have been looking into this
matter. I think they're
trying to gather details on
this now. Once we have
that, we'll let you
know. Regarding the
participation by the parties
in the Arusha talks, we do
regret the decision by any
invited participant to decline
attendance of the
consultations to be held in
Arusha under the auspices of
the East African Community
(EAC) and facilitated by
former Tanzanian President
Benjamin Mkapa. We urge
the parties to demonstrate the
necessary flexibility to make
a negotiated solution
possible, and the UN will
continue to support the
process led by the EAC.
On
February 14, after Inner City
Press asked a second time (and
about the constitution, here),
the UN sent Inner City Press
this response, which we
publish in full: "Special
Adviser Benomar is in Arusha
at the invitation of the
Facilitator, former President
Benjamin Mkapa, to support his
efforts. The Facilitator has
invited both the government
and opposition and offered
assurances to those members of
the opposition who are on a
Burundian Government arrest
warrant list that they will
not face arrest or extradition
while in Tanzania."
Inner City
Press first asked the UN's
deputy spokesman Farhan Haq on
February 13 how the UN can
support this. With the answer
UNclear, and just before Haq called Inner City Press an obsessive
a*hole, Inner City Press asked
him, from the UN
transcript:
Inner City
Press: The other thing I
wanted to ask about was on the
Burundi talks is, you'd said
yesterday that the UN is doing
everything possible to make
sure they're inclusive and
that there shouldn't be
preconditions. And I
wanted to get your response
now. The ruling party,
CNDD-FDD, has said, quote, we
are not going to sit with
people who are under arrest
warrants. So this means
that the peop… that… that
exactly what you were saying
yesterday you're opposed to
will take place in these
talks. And I wanted to
know, will Mr. [Jamal] Benomar
nonetheless attend? Will
there still be UN funds to
support a process in which
large parts of the opposition
are not allowed to
participate?
Deputy Spokesman: We'll
check with Mr. Benomar what
his intentions are on that.
From the February
14 UN's
transcript:
Inner City Press:
In Burundi, the talks that are
re-beginning, there's a list
out of the participants, but
it says at the bottom of the
lists that the… the
opposition's attendance is
contingent on discussions with
Pierre Nkurunziza to grant
conditional immunity.
Since the UN is supporting
this process, is it really a
process if one side gets to
choose who from the other side
can attend? What is the
role of the UN in ensuring
inclusivity of the talks?
Deputy Spokesman: We
have stressed and will
continue to stress the need
for all talks to be
inclusive. And we want,
therefore, all people to be
able to participate in a
manner that is not
conditional.
Inner City Press: But,
what is… I mean, conditioned
on immunity. This is a
letter… this is a document
from Mr. [Benjamin] Mkapa, and
he seems to be accepting that
Pierre Nkurunziza can choose
who can attend.
Deputy Spokesman: We're
in touch with the parties, and
we're doing what we can to
ensure that talks will be as
inclusive as possible.
So what is
the UN doing?
On top of
Mkapa's attempt to up his pay
to $1500 a day, and inclusion
in his team
of a person named in a
previous UN sanctions report
for DR Congo, there are more
and more questions about this
facilitation. But the UN,
which "supports" it, won't
even disclose the delay and
blocking of its visas.
Herve
Ladsous, the fourth French
national in a row to run
UN Peacekeeping, overrode
recommendations and continues
to pay the Nkurunziza
government for Burundian
peacekeepers accused of 25
rapes in the Central African
Republic. This is calling out
for action and cuts, and a
re-thinking of how and by
whom UN Peacekeeping
should be run. Watch this
site.
While the UN
claims, even now, that it vets
the peacekeepers it deploys
before it deploys them, it has
already had to repatriate a
number, from Burundi. On
January 24 Inner City Press
asked about another, but the
UN in its transcript didn't
even take down the name. Video
here, UN
transcript here and
below.
At
the confirmation hearing for
Nikki Haley, nominee as US
Ambassador to the UN, on
January 18 Haley three times
said that countries whose
peacekeepers abuse should not
keep getting paid.
Inner City
Press asked the UN and UK
about this, with the example
of the UN having chosen to
keep paying Burundi for 800
troops even after the UN's own
inquiry charged 25 rapes by
Burundian soldiers in the
Central African Republic.
UK
Ambassador Matthew Rycroft
signaled agreement, that
sexual abuse by peacekeepers
should be met by repatriation.
Tweeted
video here. But simply
to be replaced by troops from
the same country, to get paid?
(During Rycroft's
answer, there was a smirk at
the mention of Burundi, from
US state media that's had John
Kerry on its Board - perhaps a
flashback
to Liberians, here. We
may have more on this.)
UN deputy
spokesman Farhan Haq called it
a "case by case" decision, tweeted
video here. But who
decided it, and why?
As Burundi
"facilitator" William Mkapa
reconvened talks, the
attendees list obtained by
Inner City Press shows not
only Ken
Vitisia, of whom we're
previously written, but
also Francis Mnodolwa.
Inner City Press previously on
December 29 asked the UN's
holdover spokesman Stephane
Dujarric to comment on the
inclusion of an individual
listed in the November 2009 DR
Congo sanctions Group of
Experts report, without
answer. (Dujarric answered
only two and a half of the 22
questions Inner City Press
submitted: and those only
to defend Ban Ki-moon and
himself.)
Now, from
Paragraph 74 of that report:
"The Group has
been informed by several
sources, including a source
close to Mr. Ndagundi, that he
has close links to the ruling
Counseil national pour la
défense de la
démocratie-forces pour la
défense de la démocratie
(CNDD-FDD) party in
Burundi.. Mr. Ndagundi.s
Burundian telephone records
also show 27 communications
from April to September 2009
between himself and the number
used by Francis Ndoluwa, the
ambassador of the United
Republic of Tanzania to
Burundi, a former general in
the Tanzanian military. A
source close to Mr. Ndagundi
informed the Group that he
works closely with the
Ambassador."
So there
is yet another of Mkapa's team
that is close to the CNDD-FDD.
On
January 16, Inner City Press
asked the UN's deputy
spokesman Farhaq Haq, video
here, UN
Transcript here.
On January
11, long after the UN Security
Council ostensibly mandated
the deployment to Burundi of
228 UN Police, no progress had
been made. Inner City Press
asked UN Spokesman Stephane
Dujarric, UN
transcript here:
Inner City Press:
Has there been any progress in
deploying the 226 police that
the Security Council also
mandated for Burundi to
Burundi? Do you have any
update on that?
Spokesman: No.
None that I can report.
Go ahead. Last one.
While corpses are found in
Burundi and the government
blocks the deployment of both
the UN Police and UN Conflict
Prevention staff ostensibly
called for by the UN
Secretariat and Security
Council, the government's
supporters try to side with
either UN censors like Under
Secretary General Cristina
Gallach, who evicted and
restricts the Press which
reports on Burundi, or more
generally UN staff.
It is more than a
little ironic. UN staff are
being PNG-ed and having visas
denied from Burundi.
While the UN says little and
does nothing about this, they
made a point of ordering Inner
City Press to stop
broadcasting on Periscope,
with voice-over, a Town Hall
meeting with new Secretary
General Antonio Guterres,
which was on the UN's public
UN Webcast website. And the
government supporters, saying
Inner City Press entered the
meeting (it didn't) and
picking up on the anti-Press
maze Cristina Gallach of Spain
and DPI has created, piled on.
The UN of Gallach has brought
this on; this is how the UN is
perceived and to this has it
sunk.
There is also a strange
announcement of a 500 Euros
loan being arranged from a
shadowy, seemingly dormant
company “Biz Planners.” We'll
have more on this.
Benjamin
Mkapa as Burundi mediator has
kept his mind on his money,
and his money on his mind,
even as amid assissination of
minister, closing down of
NGOs. Well placed sources
exclusively teold Inner City
Press that Mkapa demanded a
raise -- up to $1500 a day --
and was rejected.
Mkapa then took his demand to
the East African Community
heads of state. Will he get
the payday? By declaring
Pierre Nkurunziza legitimate
because Ambassadors still
present their credential to
him, Mkapa is working for the
money. But $1500 a day?
There are other
of his advisers gunning for up
to $500 a day, including one
who is said to have previously
help arm CNDD-FDD related
groups. Yes, we'll have more
on this.
On January 4, Inner City Press
asked about the Security
Council's (lack of) Follow
through on Burundi, to
Ambassador Delattre of France,
the "penholder" on Burundi. Tweeted
video here.
More
here.
***
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