Social Media has been inaccessible in Burundi as protests against the re-election bid of the incumbent President, Pierre Nkurunziza, entered the fourth day. The Telcoms regulator, Agence de Régulation et de Contrôle des Telecoms, reportedly ordered mobile phone operators to block certain websites and instant messaging services. Social media has not only grown to become a popular tool for mobilization of protests, but also a channel through which the world is able to follow the unfolding of events. The blocking of social media came into force hardly a day after three radio stations were either banned or had their reach limited to the capital only. The protests have brought Bujumbura to a standstill with most businesses remaining closed and residents remaining indoors. Last Saturday, the ruling party CNDD-FDD nominated the incumbent President as the flag bearer in the June poll, prompting protests that turned violent, killing at least six people in the process. According to the constitution, Burundian presidents can only serve two terms of five years each but President Nkurunziza’s allies say his first term does not count as he was appointed by parliament and not through universal suffrage. The crisis has also forced some Burundians to flee their country. Rwanda has so far registered more than 21,000 refugees. And, according to the refugees, they fled after harassment from the ruling party’s youth wing imbonerakure. There have also been reports that elements of the FDLR genocidaires could have joined the Imbonerakure in attacking civilians, with some protesters claiming they had identified and captured FDLR operatives during the violence on the streets of Bujumbura. FDLR militia, with bases in eastern DR Congo, is primarily composed of those blamed for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in which at least a million people were killed.Public transport overwhelmed. Meanwhile, The New Times has established that the number of travelers booking buses en-route to Rwanda from Bujumbura shot up significantly, against a significant fall in the number of passengers heading to Burundi. “Buses are fully booked at least two days before they set off from Bujumbura. We have also witnessed a big drop in the number of passengers traveling to Burundi, sometimes buses leave when they are almost empty,” Andrew Japhet Agaba, Volcano Expresses’ head of operations said. The protesters say President Nkurunziza’s push for another term in office would is breach the 2000 Arusha agreement that brought to an end a 13-year civil war in which an estimated 300,000 lost their lives. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
