Burundi riot police disperse protests against president’s third term

Two protestors have been shot dead during clashes with police in the capital of Burundi, witnesses said on Sunday. Police used a water cannon and tear gas to disperse protesters demonstrating against President Pierre Nkurunziza seeking a third term, after the government banned protests for or against the move. Burundi’s ruling CNDD-FDD party nominated Nkurunziza as its presidential candidate on Saturday, prompting hundreds of civil society groups to decry the move as a “coup” against the constitution, which limits leaders to two terms in office.

We had called for peaceful protests and that is what happened, but the police and ruling party militia fired real bullets at the protestors.

Burundian opposition leader, Frodebu Leonce Ngendakumana

Local media reports added that several more people have been wounded in the city, while several police have also been hurt in stone throwing. Burundi’s Interior Minister Edouard Nduwimana condemned what he said were “uprisings called for by certain politicians and civil society”. Opposition figures and rights groups say the president’s effort to cling to power is unconstitutional and could push Burundi – which emerged from civil war in 2006 – back into violence.

Africa