NAIROBI
Rwanda’s foreign minister said Tuesday that Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye’s claim that Rwanda is planning to attack his country is “unfortunate.”
Olivier Nduhungirehe said on X that the two countries’ military and intelligence officials were in discussions and had even agreed on the need for de-escalation.
He said he had discussed this with his Burundian counterpart on the sidelines of a joint ministerial meeting last week between the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in Zimbabwe’s capital Harare and they were “completely on the same wavelength.”
Nduhungirehe said Rwanda will nevertheless remain committed to peace with Burundi and in the Great Lakes region but hopes for “a little calm and serenity” in official statements from the other side of the Akanyaru River.
The foreign minister’s statement came after President Ndayishimiye told the BBC that Rwandan President Paul Kagame plans to attack Burundi.
“Burundians will not accept to be killed as Congolese are being killed. Burundian people are fighters,” said Ndayishimiye, adding Burundi has no plan to attack Rwanda and it wants to resolve the problem through dialogue.
He also said that Rwanda was behind a 2015 coup attempt in Burundi.
Following the failed coup attempt, Burundi closed its border with Rwanda and reopened it after more than five years.
