Survivors of a series of mass killings committed in Burundi from 1972 to 1973 by the Tutsi-dominated army against the Hutu ethnic group on Wednesday welcomed a decision to describe the events as genocide.
In a progress report presented to parliament earlier this week, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) said the crimes committed during the years in question had genocidal intent.
“The Truth and Reconciliation Commission solemnly declares this Dec. 20, 2021 that the crime of genocide was committed against the Bahutu of Burundi in 1972-73,” said Pierre Claver Ndayicariye, the president of the TRC.
Burundian survivors under the umbrella group the Collective of Survivors and Victims said the report came as a relief to them.
“We have a feeling of satisfaction, though not total satisfaction,” Francois-Xavier Nsabimana, the group’s president, told reporters.
“This is only a step to opening up the truth, to shed more light on an event that had been covered up for a long time,” he said.
Burundi will next year mark the 50th anniversary of the 1972 crisis, which began on April 29 when Hutu insurgents launched an attack in Rumonge in southern Burundi targeting members of the Tutsi elite in power under the presidency of Michel Micombero, a Tutsi.
In the ensuing crisis, there was indiscriminate repression against the Hutus, the majority ethnic group in the central African country.
At least 692 mass graves were identified, and in the 190 already opened, the human remains of 19,897 victims were retrieved, Ndayicariye said, explaining the basis of the commission’s conclusion.
The TRC relied on its investigations into “the serious, massive and systematic violations of human rights.”
The commission, according to Ndayicariye, has so far contacted 955 witnesses between the ages of 60 and 94 from all ethnic groups and categories.
The investigations, he said, show that the institutions of the state, from the presidency to the local administrations, judiciary and army, participated and contributed in the arrests and assassinations targeting members of the Hutu ethnic group.
Ndayicariye, however, said there were crimes against humanity that followed which even claimed the lives of some members of the Tutsi ethnic group.
Burundi’s parliament adopted the commission’s conclusion and called on the government to recognize the crimes as genocide against the Hutus. - James Tasamba, Anadolu Agency
Zimbabwe has joined Tanzania in strengthening calls for the preservation of the African liberation history to safeguard the continent’s decades-long heritage.
Under a collaboration with the Tanzania Ministry of Culture, Information, Broadcasting and Publicity Minister Senator Monica Mutsvangwa visited liberation sites that housed African luminaries such as the late former President Robert Mugabe, Mozambican founding father Samora Machel, Namibian Founding principal Sam Nujoma, the late South African President Nelson Mandela, Zambia’s founding father Kenneth Kaunda among others.
Researchers agree that Tanzania birthed the spirit of Pan Africanism through its leader the late Julius Mwalimu Nyerere, providing a base for exiles from all countries and assisting political leaders out of places were their lives were at risk.
Important individuals such as President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Vice President General Retired Constantino Chiwenga spent some time in Dar es Salaam in areas such as Morogoro and Kongwa.
The strong relations created from the support of the liberation struggle have stood the test of time.
Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan (R) attends the 60th anniversary of the Independence Day ceremony at the National Stadium, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Dec. 9, 2021. Photo Ericky Boniphace/AFP via Getty Images
CAIRO — President of Tanzania Samia Suhulu Hassan has laid the foundation stone for the Egyptian Industrial City in the Kigamboni district on the border of the city of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. The city, as per an Egyptian council of ministers’ official statement, stretches over 2.2 million square meters (544 acres) and is set to contain labor-intensive industries, such as the pharmaceutical, automobile, textile and agricultural industries.
Ahmed Elsewedy, president and CEO at Elsewedy Electric, an Egyptian company, said in statements during the opening of the Industrial Complex in Tanzania that the group is supervising the implementation of this city, the projects of the Elsewedy Industrial Complex and the Julius Nyerere hydropower station, which will be built on the Rufiji River in Tanzania at a cost of $2.9 billion in cooperation with the Egyptian Arab Contractors Company.
Elsewedy revealed the details of the Egyptian Industrial City and stressed that the city targets investments of up to $400 million. He noted that the city seeks to attract at least 100 investors from various countries in the region, and that more than 50,000 job opportunities will be created for young people.
The laying of the foundation stone came after Hassan inaugurated the first phase of the Elsewedy Industrial Complex, which is located on an area of 120,000 square meters (30 acres) and contains several factories for cables, wires, electricity meters and transformers.
Code meters are electricity meters that operate by a card system and are charged with a balance in order to restart the electricity.. This type of modern counter is an alternative to the bill counter system.
The complex is also home to a logistics center extending over an area of 4,800 square meters (1 acre), and is set to produce the necessary equipment for manufacturing and production in Tanzania. It will also provide more than 50,000 job opportunities for young people and will include a vocational training academy for Tanzanian workers to meet the international labor standards. It will also serve as a regional center for the export of wires, transformers, cables, electricity meters and electrical insulators.
The details of the complex were revealed by Elsewedy during the opening of the complex in the presence of the president of Tanzania and a group of officials from the two countries.
Rashad Abdo, an Egyptian economic expert and president of the Egyptian Forum for Political and Strategic Studies, told Al-Monitor that the laying of the foundation stone by Hassan for an Egyptian industrial city is a serious and important step as far as the economic relations between the two countries are concerned.
He noted that the city will serve as an important step in the field of investment for Egyptian and African businessmen in Tanzania and its neighboring countries.
During the opening activities of the complex, Hassan expressed her deep appreciation to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and the Egyptian businessmen who attended the inauguration to inject investments into the Tanzanian economy.
“I have already met the attending Egyptian companies during my last visit to Egypt, and they have indeed delivered on their promise to me. I promise them all obstacles facing them will be overcome,” she said.
She also stressed that the opening of the first phase of the industrial complex, which coincides with the laying of the foundation stone for the Egyptian Industrial City, will pave the way for further cooperation and investment between the two sides.
Hassan sent a reassuring message to Egyptian businessmen, noting, “Egyptian businessmen should be reassured about their investment in Tanzania, and I guarantee that.”
Abdo said, “It is a matter of great economic feasibility for countries to engage in foreign investments. Every country in the world is seeking to increase their exports and investments — both internally and externally — and the inauguration of an Egyptian industrial city in Tanzania will contribute to raising the Egyptian state’s exports and increasing its investment opportunities abroad, which will be of great benefit to Egypt. This will help provide hard currency and will raise the cash reserve balance of the Central Bank of Egypt. This city will offer job opportunities for young people on both sides as well as investment opportunities for Egyptian businessmen.”
He added, “Foreign investments are not only economically feasible, as they also have good political and social dimensions and can enhance Egypt’s position across the African continent."
Yousry el-Sharqawy, president of the Egyptian-African Businessmen Association, told Al-Monitor, “There is no doubt that Egypt’s presence in Tanzania and the willingness of the Tanzanian government to overcome obstacles to the inauguration of an Egyptian industrial city on Tanzanian lands is an encouraging and practical step toward more investment opportunities and further joint cooperation between the two countries. This will benefit both parties.”
Sharqawy said, “This city will set the stage for several levels of Egyptian and African businessmen in Tanzania, especially considering that Tanzania is an encouraging market for businessmen, because work in Tanzania will serve nearly 500 million people, which is the population of Tanzania and its neighboring and adjacent countries. This helps Egyptian and African businessmen significantly invest in that city.”
Asked about the demands of Egyptian and African businessmen to invest in Tanzania and the African continent in general, Sharqawy said, “We need more incentives in the sector of granting land for the establishment of industrial projects in Tanzania. The movement of money also needs to be facilitated, the Tanzanian customs system developed and facilitated. Tanzanian shipping and transport ports need to be developed and the mechanisms of the Tanzanian economy in general need to be modernized so as to keep pace with the digital transformation system that is now heading to the financial and business market and the global economy. Add to this the promotion of many encouraging investment opportunities, be it for the Egyptian or African investor in general.”
Asked about the details of the dam project, Egyptian Minister of Housing Assem el-Gazzar revealed during his visit to the dam site that Sisi attaches special importance to the Tanzanian dam project. He declared that the project aims to build a dam with a length of 1,025 meters (0.6 miles) at the summit and a height of 131 meters (430 feet) with seven water outlets. The dam’s lake has a storage capacity of 34 billion cubic meters, and it includes a hydroelectric power station with a capacity of 2,115 megawatt. The station is located in the Selous Game Reserve on the side of the Rufiji River in Morogoro region, southwest of Dar es Salaam.
Maj. Gen. Mahmoud Nassar, head of the Central Agency for Reconstruction and head of the Follow-up Committee for the project, revealed that the project employs about 9,000 workers — 8,000 local Tanzanian workers and 1,000 Egyptian and foreign workers — and uses more than 1,400 pieces of equipment.
He stressed that the implementation of the river diversion tunnel — 703 meters (0.4 miles) long, 12 meters (39 feet) wide and 17 meters (56 feet) high — was completed in November last year, and that the two sides held the Egyptian-Tanzania Business Forum in Tanzania to discuss investment opportunities and joint cooperation. - Baher al-Kady, Al-Monitor
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