BURUNDI: Year in Brief: Burundi 2005 - A chronology of key events
NAIROBI, 2 February 2006 (IRIN) -
JANUARY
1 Jan - Thousands of civilians are displaced following fierce fighting in the western province of Bujumbura Rural. The fighting, in the communes of Isale, Nyabiraba and Kanyosha, east of the capital, Bujumbura, is between the rebel Forces nationales de libération (FNL) of Agathon Rwasa and a coalition of the Burundian army and troops loyal to Pierre Nkurunziza, leader of the former largest rebel faction in Burundi, the Conseil national pour la défense de la démocratie-Forces de défense pour la démocratie (CNDD-FDD).
[Full report]
7 Jan - The government officially declares famine in two provinces and calls for concerted efforts to assist the affected residents. This follows the deaths of tens of people in the provinces on Kirundo in the north and Muyinga in the northeast where, according to local officials, thousands are threatened with starvation.
[Full report]
17 Jan - South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma, the chief mediator in the Burundian peace process, arrives in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, for talks with President Yoweri Museveni, who chairs a regional peace initiative for Burundi. They discuss whether it would be possible for Burundi to hold elections within three months as planned.
[Full report]
18 Jan - Cholera hits Bujumbura. The Ministry of Public Health registers 88 cases of the water-borne disease. So far, three people are known to have died of cholera since 12 January, when the outbreak was first reported.
[Full report]
19 Jan - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) confirms that more than half a million people are in need of food aid in the north. The agency says it will help at least 520,000 people in the provinces of Kirundo and Muyinga for the next two months.
[Full report]
21 Jan - Médecins Sans Frontières reopens its specialised cholera treatment centre, following an alert on the outbreak of the disease.
[Full report]
23 Jan - Gunmen in Bubanza province shoot dead Governor Isaie Bigirimana at Gihanga, about 20 km north of Bujumbura. Bigirimana was travelling by car from Bubanza to Bujumbura with a police officer and another aide when men believed to be members of the FNL ambushed them. The police officer is also killed.
[Full report]
25 Jan - The National Independent Electoral Commission announces 28 February as the new date for the constitutional referendum, a key step in the country's transition to democracy.
[Full report]
27 Jan - Political leaders seeking to amend the draft constitution before it goes to a referendum in February are dealt a blow when the main international mediators to the country's peace process say they oppose any changes.
[Full report]
27 Jan - Torrential rains destroy hundreds of homes in various areas nationwide, particularly along the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. At least 450 homes are destroyed in Gatumba.
[Full report]
31 Jan - Maison Shalom, an NGO, launches Amani House (Peace House), a centre for street children, orphans and other vulnerable children in the Kigobe area in Bujumbura.
[Full report]
FEBRUARY
3 Feb - The FNL says it is ready for talks with the transitional government on condition that South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma does not act as mediator.
[Full report]
12 Feb - Former rebel leader and founder of the CNDD-FDD Leonard Nyangoma returns to Burundi after 10 years in exile. He says he is back because the main objective of his armed struggle has been achieved.
[Full report]
19 Feb - Three Tutsi-dominated parties, including the main Union pour le progrès national (UPRONA), call on Burundians to vote against the country's proposed post-transitional constitution during a referendum, terming it exclusionist and dictatorial.
[Full report]
23 Feb - At least 20 people have died of hunger in Burundi's east-central province of Karuzi, a group of parliamentarians from the province say following a visit to the area. One of the members of parliament, Tharcisse Minani, says hunger is "raging in the three communes Gihogazi, Buhiga and Gitaramuka."
[Full report]
24 Feb - WFP warns that it would have to cut rations for 50,000 Burundian and Congolese refugees in Rwanda unless donors provided $2.6 million in aid.
[Full report]
28 Feb - Burundians go to the polls for a referendum on the post-transition constitution.
[Full report]
MARCH
3 March - Hundreds of people flee into neighbouring Rwanda, citing increased tension in their nation despite overwhelming public approval of a new constitution put to a referendum.
[Full report]
4 March - The 26th session of the Implementation Monitoring Committee of the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Accord, under which Burundi's transitional government was established, opens. The special representative of the UN Secretary-General to Burundi, Carolyn McAskie, appeals to the FNL to continue observing a truce as it did on 28 February during the constitutional referendum.
[Full report]
4 March - The Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), announces the results of a constitutional referendum held on 28 February, but says the figures would not be considered final until the Constitutional Court endorses them. CENI Chairman Paul Ngarambe says 2.6 million voters - representing 90.10 percent of the 2.89 million voters who took part in the referendum - said "yes" to a new constitution.
[Full report]
11 March - Services in public hospitals across the country continue to be paralysed as an indefinite nurses’ strike enters its fifth day. The nurses are demanding better pay and working conditions.
[Full report]
11 March - The National Assembly votes 163-0 in favour of adopting a new electoral code. There are six abstentions.
[Full report]
11 March - UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan recommends to the Security Council the establishment of two panels - a non-judicial "Truth Commission" and a special chamber within Burundi's court system - to bring to justice those responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in the country since its independence from Belgium in 1962. Annan says his proposal would avoid having two identical commissions but would include "a mixed composition of both national and international components."
[Full report]
16 March - Two million Burundians will need emergency food aid this year, 40 percent more than in 2004, WFP reports.
[Full report]
29 March - The government resumes military cooperation with Belgium with the signing of a letter of intent between Belgian Minister of Defence André Flahaut and his Burundian counterpart, Vincent Niyungeko, on behalf of the two governments.
[Full report]
31 March - The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says it expects to repatriate up to 150,000 Burundian refugees by the end of 2005.
[Full report]
APRIL
1 Apr - Nurses in public hospitals resume work after a month-long strike, following the signing of an agreement between their trades union and the government.
[Full report]
12 Apr - The FNL says it is willing to stop fighting government troops and enter into serious negotiations with the interim government and work out a plan for sustainable peace.
[Full report]
12 Apr - The Senate, the parliament's upper chamber, votes 46-0 to adopt the country's electoral code. Three senators abstain. However, the senators propose 60 amendments to the code that could cause a delay of the electoral process, due to end on 22 April with presidential elections.
[Full report]
22 Apr - The transitional period to democracy is extended by four months as leaders from Africa's Great Lakes region decide that Burundi would complete a series of elections by 19 August and that its new government would take over one week later.
[Full report]
22 Apr - Independent Electoral Commission Chairman Paul Ngarambe announces the election timetable, which is scheduled to end on 19 August with presidential polls.
[Full report]
25 Apr - The CNDD-FDD announces it is freezing relations with President Domitien Ndayizeye and that its ministers will no longer attend cabinet meetings. Spokesman Ramadhan Karenga says the reason for the decision is that Ndayizeye is "unreliable".
[Full report]
26 Apr - The criminal chamber of the Bujumbura Court of Appeal sentences four senior army and police officers to death for the planning the execution of Kassy Manlan, the WHO representative to Burundi.
[Full report]
27 Apr - The FNL will stop fighting only when government troops stop attacking its forces, rebel leader Agathon Rwasa says.
[Full report]
28 Apr - A group of 20 political parties say they will not accept the revised electoral calendar issued by the Independent Electoral Commission. Speaking on the behalf of the parties, Terence Nsanze, the leader of the Alliance Burundo Africain pour le Salut, describes the change of the calendar as unconstitutional.
[Full report]
MAY
4 May - President Domitien Ndayizeye signs decree creating a new programme to disarm civilians. The decree states that a commission is to be set up to disarm "all persons residing in Burundi other than police and defence forces in possession of weapons and ammunition."
[Full report]
10 May - Ndayizeye appoints Jean Marie Ngendahayo as the minister of interior, ending weeks of disagreement between the president and the CNDD-FDD.
[Full report]
13 May - The Independent Electoral Commission takes measures to ensure that general elections in the country are conducted in a free and fair atmosphere. Every voter is required to have an identity card and a voter's card.
[Full report]
15 May - President Ndayizeye and FNL leader Agathon Rwasa agree to end hostilities and work for lasting and sustainable peace in the country.
[Full report]
20 May - Two years after a peace agreement was signed in Burundi, at least 50,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) are unable or unwilling to return home, says Dennis McNamara, the special adviser of the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator on Internal Displacement and director of the Inter-Agency Internal Displacement Division. An estimated 120,000 IDPs are living in camps.
[Full report]
26 May - A drastic shortage of funds will force WFP to begin to slash its food aid to two million people in Burundi unless an additional $23.4 million is received, the agency reports.
[Full report]
31 May - The UN Mission in Burundi, ONUB, steps up its military presence across the country ahead of the communal elections set for 3 June.
[Full report]
JUNE
3 June - The election of communal councillors across the country begins.
[Full report]
10 June - Delegates from the Burundian government and the rebel FNL begin talks on how to implement a ceasefire agreement, after almost a week of delays.
[Full report]
14 June - A provincial official says that an estimated 23,000 people fled their homes in the previous week in the western Bubanza province because of fighting between government soldiers and FNL rebels.
[Full report]
14 June - Talks between the government and the FNL are adjourned after six days of debate that focused on the violation of a ceasefire agreement signed on 15 May in Dar es Salaam.
[Full report]
18 June - Campaigning for legislative elections begins.
[Full report]
20 June - The UN Security Council adopts a resolution to create a mixed truth commission and a special court to prosecute war crimes and human rights violations committed during decades of civil war in the country.
[Full report]
23 June - The Independent National Electoral Commission releases the final results of communal polls held countrywide on 3 June, confirming the outright victory of the country's former main rebel group, the CNDD-FDD.
[Full report]
JULY
1 July - The army says it that during the previous two weeks it has arrested some 100 child combatants who had been recruited by the FNL.
[Full report]
4 July - Burundians take a major step towards ending the post-conflict transition period by electing the 100 members of the country's National Assembly.
[Full report]
6 July - The CNDD-FDD wins most of the votes in the legislative elections and pledges to enter into talks with the FNL rebels.
[Full report]
10 July - CNDD-FDD leader Pierre Nkurunziza accepts his party's nomination as presidential candidate in polls due on 19 August.
[Full report]
25 July - Hundreds of IDPs camp in front of a government building in Bujumbura to demand their land they claim the government confiscated.
[Full report]
29 July - Elected local councillors meet in 17 provincial towns to elect members of the country's Senate.
[Full report]
AUGUST
2 Aug - Hundreds of IDPs who have been camping out in front of a government building in Bujumbura since 25 July say they will end their protest now that the government has agreed to give them land on which to settle.
[Full report]
4 Aug - The World Bank announces that the government has met the economic reforms for international creditors to write off what would have amounted to $1.5 billion in debt servicing.
[Full report]
12 Aug - UNHCR says it expects at least a six-fold increase in August in the number of Burundian refugees returning home compared to June.
[Full report]
14 Aug - The main Hutu party, FRODEBU, suspends its chairman, Jean Minani, for six months because the party lost recent communal and senatorial elections to the CNDD-FDD.
[Full report]
16 Aug - Parliament votes to elect Immaculee Nahayo, of the CNDD-FDD party, as the speaker of the National Assembly, the lower chamber of parliament. Nahayo is elected by 107 votes to three, with six abstentions. She becomes the first woman in the country's history to hold the position.
[Full report]
16 Aug - The FNL, for the first time since 1993, intensifies its attacks, moving its offensives from the traditional strongholds of Bujumbura Rural and Bubanza provinces to other areas in the north of the country.
[Full report]
18 Aug - Rwanda, Burundi and UNHCR sign an agreement in Kigali, Rwanda, that lays the ground rules for the voluntarily repatriation of thousands of Burundian refugees.
[Full report]
18 Aug - The FNL shells Bujumbura with mortars, in what the army says is an effort to stamp its presence on the minds of the country's new political leaders.
[Full report]
19 Aug - Parliament votes 151 to 9, electing Pierre Nkurunziza as the first post-transitional president. There is one abstention. Nkurunziza, 40, wins 91.52 percent of the votes cast by a joint congress of the National Assembly and the Senate, the two houses of parliament.
[Full report]
22 Aug - UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan proposes the creation of a peace-building commission to settle problems in Burundi after the UN peacekeeping function is complete.
[Full report]
26 Aug - Pierre Nkurunziza is sworn in as president for a five-year term. He becomes the country's first democratically elected leader since 1993.
[Full report]
29 Aug - Two vice-presidents are sworn in at a joint session of parliament in Bujumbura. They are: First Vice-President Martin Nduwimana and Second Vice-President Alice Nzomukunda.
[Full report]
30 Aug - President Nkurunziza names a new and more streamlined cabinet, with all but one of the 20 ministers coming into government for the first time.
[Full report]
SEPTEMBER
12 Sept - The number of Burundian refugees returning home from camps in western Tanzania has almost tripled since July, UNHCR says. It says 13,746 returned in August, up from 5,399 in July.
[Full report]
14 Sept - The FNL says it does not recognise the new government and will only negotiate peace with representatives of the country's three ethnic groups.
[Full report]
19 Sept - Free schooling starts with huge logistical problems. Teachers and administrators of primary schools face these problems as hundreds of thousands of primary school students line up to enrol for the first time for the 2005-2006 school year, which President Nkurunziza promised would now be free.
[Full report]
23 Sept - The national electoral process ends with elections for local heads of villages. The country's electoral calendar began in February with a referendum on the post-transition constitution, during which an overwhelming majority voted for the draft document.
[Full report]
28 Sept - UN agencies say that even though the country has now overcome many of its political problems, international donors are not providing enough funds to meet people's basic humanitarian needs.
[Full report]
OCTOBER
11 Oct - Agathon Rwasa, leader of the FNL, has been expelled from the movement's leadership, the new FNL spokesman, Sylvestre Niyungeko, announces. Jean Bosco Sindayigaya replaces Rwasa as leader.
[Full report]
19 Oct - Following several protests by former combatants over their demobilisation pay, the government appoints new officials to the National Commission for Demobilisation, Reintegration and Reinsertion and announces that a new list of paramilitary youths to be demobilised would be released in the week.
[Full report]
24 Oct - The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) launches a campaign to support and protect tens of thousands of Burundian children living with or affected by HIV/AIDS.
[Full report]
28 Oct - UNHCR says it could reduce, or even suspend, its voluntary repatriation of Burundian refugees from Tanzania unless it receives the money required to help hundreds of thousands of the refugees to return home.
[Full report]
31 Oct - The government says it will take measures to curb activities of the FNL now that the deadline has expired for the rebels to start peace talks.
[Full report]
NOVEMBER
15 Nov - Twenty-one members of a new commission begin work to identify all Burundi political prisoners being held nationwide.
[Full report]
17 Nov - The UN Food and Agriculture Organization warns of a looming serious food crisis in the northern and eastern provinces.
[Full report]
21 Nov - UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan recommends to the Security Council the reduction of the size of the UN operation in Burundi, ONUB, saying troops could begin withdrawing in December.
[Full report]
28 Nov - The African Development Bank says Burundi has met the conditions needed to qualify for $226 million in debt relief.
[Full report]
29 Nov - Germany gives the Burundian government nearly 17 million euros (about $20 million) to improve water and sanitation in various parts of the country, in what a government official says marks the end of the suspension of German aid.
[Full report]
DECEMBER
1 Dec - UNHCR says some 500 refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo who had crossed into northwestern Burundi in November have been moved inland from the border area in Cibitoke province to Gasorwe transit camp in Muyinga province in the northeast. The agency would continue transferring all who were willing to Gasorwe.
[Full report]
1 Dec - The World Bank pledges $170 million to Burundi, in addition to $350 million it had already allocated for reconstruction and development. The new funding will be disbursed out over the next two years.
[Full report]
7 Dec - Germany grants Burundi $11.1 million for a one-year programme aimed at reducing poverty across the country by providing safe drinking water, fighting HIV/AIDS and promoting peace and reconciliation.
[Full report]
15 Dec - The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs appeals for $128 million in humanitarian aid to Burundi, much of which will not be emergency relief. More than half of the funds would go to long-term development.
[Full report]
21 Dec - The UN Security Council extends the mandate of the UN Mission in Burundi for six months until 1 July 2006, noting that the mission could end thereafter. The UN says the withdrawal of the 5,000 peacekeepers could, at the request of the government, be completed in the second half of 2006.
[Full report]
31 Dec - 168 Mozambican troops serving with the UN Mission in Burundi fly home, marking the beginning of a phased pullout of thousands of peacekeepers of different nationalities. The departure of the Mozambican contingent is due to be followed by an 817-member Kenyan battalion in mid-February 2006 and Ethiopia's contingent in March. The Jordanian medical team of some 60 personnel will leave at the end of March, following in early April by the 224 Pakistani engineering unit. The first withdrawal plan will conclude with the departure of the South African aviation element, comprising 25 men and two helicopters.
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