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Institutional Failure and Ethnic Conflicts in Burundi

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2014

Léonce Ndikumana
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Abstract:

Since the military coup d'état of October 21, 1993 Burundi is experiencing a genocide, albeit at a slow pace, while the leaders engage in a series of ‘dialogue of the deaf.’ Meanwhile, half-truths are being told about the causes of the crisis and inappropriate solutions are being proposed for an incorrectly diagnosed structural social malaise. This paper examines the causes of ethnic violence by emphasizing the impact of institutional failure. The ‘privatization’ of key institutions such as the military, the judiciary, and the education system by ethnic and regional entities, has resulted in a divorce between state institutions and the population. Violence is created and maintained in a vicious cycle of frustration–claims and counterclaims–and repression as the rulers try to hold on to power while the oppressed categories of the population claim for their fair share in national resources. Restoration of peace and stability will require an extensive reform of key institutions to ensure equity and protection of rights and property for all citizens.

Résumé:

Résumé:

Depuis le coup d'état militaire du 21 Octobre 1993, le Burundi est consumé par un génocide à petit feu, pendant que les dirigeants s'engagent dans une série de dialogues de sourds. Entre temps, les causes de la crise font l'object de demi-vérités et des solutions impropres sont proposées pour un mal social structurel incorrectement diagnostiqué. Ce papier examine les causes de la violence ethnique en mettant en exergue l'impact de la faillite des institutions. La ‘privatisation’ des institutions clés comme l'armée, le système judiciaire et l'éducation par des entités ethniques et régionales a causé le divorce entre les institutions étatiques et la majorité de la population. La violence est créeé et maintenue dans un cercle vicieux de frustration—revendications et contre revendications—répression, quand les dirigeants cherchent à s'acrocher au pouvoir alors que les opprimés leur part légitime dans les ressources nationales. Le rétablissement de la paix et la stabilité nécessitera une réforme extensive des institutions clés pour assurer l'équité et la protection des droits et de la propriété pour tous les citoyens.

Type
Articles
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 41 , Issue 1 , April 1998 , pp. 29 - 47
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 1998

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