President Paul Kagame and his Burundian counterpart, Evariste Ndayishimiye, held a closed door meeting, on the sidelines of the summit of East African Community Heads of State. The summit which attracted leaders of all the seven member states of the regional bloc aimed at discussing the deteriorating security situation in the east of DR Congo. Though no details were provided from the meeting by the two Presidents which took place in the Burundian city of Bujumbura, the talks most likely centred on the ongoing effort to revive the bilateral relations which have been on ice since 2015. For close to three years now, following the election of President Ndayishimiye, there have been significant strides towards normalizing the relationship between the two sister countries, including exchange of high-level delegation. There has also previously been exchanges of messages of goodwill between both Presidents. However, a meeting at the level of heads of state is something that signals even better days ahead for the people of the two countries who have longed for the historical camaraderie and shared values they have enjoyed across centuries. Rwanda and Burundi have a lot in common. When the two countries are not on good terms, it means families are not able to freely cross either side of the border to visit relatives, or even trade. The goodwill by our heads of state to end this deadlock is therefore a welcome gesture and should be supported by citizens of our two countries to iron out any remaining issues so that we can go back to where we have always been. Most importantly, it is crucial to normalise relations with Burundi, just like any other neighbour, for citizens of both countries to be able to trade freely, either under bilateral arrangement or multilateral, especially through the EAC to which the two countries belong.
