Mkapa, Museveni meet over Burundi

Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa on Friday paid a one-day working visit to Uganda, a statement from State House, Uganda said. It said Mkapa and his host, Yoweri Museveni, held consultations on the DRC crisis, the Burundi peace process, and on matters of mutual interest. On Burundi, the two leaders reviewed the progress made in finding peace in that country as well as reinvigorating regional and international efforts to ensure there was a ceasefire which, they said, was necessary for ending the cycle of violence and destabilisation. At a joint press conference, Mkapa dismissed allegations that his country was training rebels in refugee camps to destabilise the Burundi government.

He said the allegations were “baseless” and “fabrications” aimed at tarnishing the good name of his country since “the Tanzanian government does not train or arm anybody”. He emphasised the importance of the new momentum in the implementation of the Arusha accord so that the situation in Burundi was resolved once and for all. He said the Burundi issue had been a subject of consultations of the two leaders in an effort to get a way forward. On the DRC, the two leaders underscored the importance of the implementation of the Lusaka agreement to resolve the conflict.