East Africa Thread

Something is going on in Burundi. Not only that, but it could have severe negative effects on the East African Community, an EU-like entity that consists of Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. In the last five years, the EAC has been integrating and planning for a Federation of East Africa sometime in the next decade or so.

Also, there are fears that this business in Burundi could be as bad as what happened in Rwanda.

I see that you have a bit of a list there already but I'd just like to ask that you maybe put in a map or something to let people know which countries count as East Africa. (There are various definitions, I believe.)

According to the Wiki.

Also, Shinra, you might wanna put a disclaimer that news related exclsively (or for the most part) to South Sudan go here.

edited 7th May '15 5:19:08 PM by Quag15

I'd exclude the Sudans and Egypt, at least.

Eritrea and Ethiopia have their own thread as well. I guess we can expand the scope to Madagascar, Mozambique, and Somalia though.

Speaking of Madagascar, it seems someone discovered William Kidd's treasure somnewhere there....

And the whole reason I created this thread, the unrest in Burundi, has led to a coup. People are celebrating in the streets. Not sure yet if true though, could just be hot air by the general in question.

So the coup attempt failed, but the president is insisting on still holding elections. Other countries, including the US, are asking him to postpone.

And the leader of an opposition party was shot and killed.

Maybe the president wants to reassert control by winning the elections and then crushing any dissent/opposition once and for all (well, for a few years, anyway - these things come in waves).

edited 30th May '15 8:58:07 AM by Quag15

Seriously. This guy is going to earn himself a civil war at this rate.

Oh yeah, definitely. Hence why I implied waves of unrest coming in the next years.

This isn't going away. The Burundian election (widely seen as not free and fair anyway) has been postponed due to violence.

So some updates since the last post. Not only does the UN believe Burundi is about to go into civil war, but the AU is now considering military intervention, without Burundi's consent, a first for the organization.

EDIT- I hope the EAC can govern Burundi in the aftermath. Success would help increase cohesion in East Africa, while failure...well...I don't want to think of the consequences of that...

edited 18th Dec '15 2:24:48 PM by FFShinra

Burundi is threatening to fight the African Union peacekeeping force. It's really surprising the AU is doing this. It seems like only yesterday they were obsessed with allowing sovereigns to do whatever they wanted within their own boarders.

Cross posted with the Military thread

edited 31st Dec '15 2:39:27 AM by JackOLantern1337

The AU has been interventionist for a while, but it has to be it doing it, outside powers (particularly Europeans) coming in uninvited is what they oppose.

They've been interventionist in failed states like Somalia true, but this is the first time they've ever done something over the head of a sovereign. And they still tolerate people like Bashir.

Thing is from their perspective they're not going over the heads of the sovereign goverment, the sovereign goverment was removed by a military coup, they're just going in to act on its behalf.

The current government was recognized as the legitimate government for some time before this current crisis.

No the goverment from before that was (and that government did have real issues), but the AU was condemning the coup the moment it was attempted.

You talking about Somalia or Burundi? But yeah, the AU is against coups, as many of it's members are led by leaders who have ruled for decades they have a great interest in maintaining the status quo.

Burundi, I'm not aware of Somalia having a coup recently.

If the AU, as corrupt and incompetent as it is, can stop a Rwanda style genocide in Burundi, so be it. I wonder how much international support they'll need? Though at least, unlike say Syria or Sudan, none of the big global players have any reason to want Burundi to descend into civil war and genocide.

Nobody wants Sudan to, it's just that nobody gives a shit if it does. But yeah more power to the AU, I'm sure it could get a UN mandate if it asked, possibly some financial support it need be.

East Africa is a major contributor to the AU forces. Kenya and Tanzania (and probably Uganda) in particular don't want the EAC project driven off the rails by another genocide. Rwanda on the other hand, I wonder...

The AU's yearly budget is pretty limited, I imagine they would need at least donor support to beef up their budget.

As a comparison, in 2004 the AU had an annual budget of about US $158 million, whereas the United Nations Mission in Sudan cost about US $1 billion in one year.