“New lease of life” for Buyoya, paper says

A private Burundian weekly newspaper ‘La Verite’ has said that Nyerere’s death could torpedo the Arusha peace process and give a “new lease of life” to President Pierre Buyoya which could keep him in power for many years. The newspaper concurred with many analysts that Buyoya is now in a strong position to reinforce the internal partnership and “demonstrate to national and international opinion that Arusha was only a ‘mirage’ where ‘politico-economic businessmen’ met just to get some money and divide up the national cake between themselves”. The paper also said Nyerere’s death risks creating insecurity in Tanzania itself, warning of an “extremist Islamic push” combined with existing socio-economic difficulties, which Nyerere had managed to contain. “If ever Tanzania burns in the same way as Burundi and DRC, the Burundian rebels will not hesitate to defend their rear base and the government in Dar es Salaam,” it said.