Burundians are currently in for a rough time and it is made worse by the culture of silence that the government is foisting on its citizens and residents. Using its overbearing might, the government of the Republic of Burundi has shut down access to social media platforms while the country continues to experience political unrest. It is not only social media that is under proscription in Burundi, three independent radio stations in the country have also been forced to close shop.
Burundi is expected to head to the polls on June 26, 2015 and the cause of protest is the incumbent president Pierre
Nkurunziza who against reasoning is insisting on running in the election to retain his seat. The ruling National Council for the Defense of Democracy- Forces for the Defense of Democracy, CNDD-FDD party which he belongs to also thinks the president should be allowed to run for office for a third term. If elected, President Nkurunziza will be spending fifteen years in office, contrary to ten years which the constitution allows. The CNDD-FDD puerile argument is that the president’s first term was a ‘selection’ by the members of parliament and not an election. Like most protests in Africa, where law enforcement agents exhibit unnecessary exuberances, about 10 people have been killed thus far and about 600 arrested while tens of others have been injured. In addition, thousands of others are said to have fled the country to seek refuge in neighbouring Tanzania, DR Congo and Rwanda.
The clampdown on social media services like Twitter, Facebook, Tango, Viber and Whatsapp are indications that governments now have firm understanding of how powerful these platforms are. If anything, social media tools have helped to make citizenship more engaging and also have availed citizens very effective tools to perform their oversight function of all the arms of government. Burundi with its population of about 10.7 million is an interesting study in this light. Its landlocked status in the East Africa Community means it has to depend on the ‘generosity’ of its neighbours for economic survival. The new crisis is an avoidable setback for the country. Only an estimated 530,000 citizens in Burundi are internet users with bulk of these numbers resident in Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi. This is the population that the president is scared of. Nkurunziza has possibly been told how powerful a tweet can be. He must have been given a crash tutorial that when it comes to media platforms, social media is the king of them all. He must have also been schooled on how easy it is to draw international attention to the injustice it will represent if he is fielded as candidate on June 26. At the moment, Burundi is the only country on the continent where social media users are being denied access. For him, he is satisfied if what happens in Burundi stays in Burundi!
The president needs to wake up and smell the coffee while acknowledging that the citizens are the biggest stakeholder in any democracy. The unsavoury history of the country and the Arusha Peace Deal is another reason for the president and his party to field another candidate. Burundi’s history is burdened with a civil war that lasted for 12 years and only ended in 2005 while leaving over 300,000 people dead and millions displaced.
The government in effecting its order instructed telecom operators to block mobile access to some sites. Before the ban, Burundians used social media platforms to reach out and organise the different protests that have held in Bujumbura. Despite the low internet access in Burundi, the number of mobile phones in the country is about 2.6 million and since most citizens access the internet through their phones, the restrictions that were put in place were from the six mobile operators in the country.
Of note is the military’s non-partisan stand thus far, an indication that the lesson from similar incidence in Egypt has been well taken. The East African Community, the African Union and the United Nations need to have clear position on the internet use and social media on the continent and around the world. The freedom of expression must continue to be protected everywhere in the world. Nkurunziza, a former rebel leader, should know that history has always been kind to decent interests like the Burundians currently have. The citizens who must have heard about the successful power change in Nigeria will seek same for themselves and also remembering how fruitful the Arab spring was.
The note by Access, a non-profit that ‘defends and extends the digital rights of users at risk around the world by combining innovative policy, user engagement, and direct technical support for open and secure communications for all’ is commendable. According to the group, ‘the UN Human Rights Council has affirmed that the rights that are enjoyed offline must also be protected on the internet. Blocking access to the internet, or applications on the internet such as social media, violates the right to freedom of expression by denying the right of persons to seek, receive, and impart information. Shutdowns frequently occur during periods of civil unrest, directly impacting the right to association. As a result, shutdowns often precede and enable egregious human rights violations because journalists and witnesses are unable to effectively report on repressive actions by state and non-state actors’.
The happening in Burundi has to be quickly put under check otherwise a genocide may be in tow without any word getting out. Shutdowns and slow internet access are methods that governments have been known to use to quell protests. In January, the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo shut down internet access and text messaging services after a nationwide protest, when it was later restored, a number of social media sites and text messaging platforms remained shut. The government of the Republic of Niger has also been known to give such instructions in the past.
Liberty and freedom offline should be seen as same online. There is a new economy that depends on internet access to survive. There are young people who have businesses that constantly demand they have access to the internet. I doubt if the young people in Burundi who are in such category will be compensated for their loss after this incidence. The right to shutdown internet access should not remain in the absolute control of government given several instances of abuse the world has seen especially as such shutdowns are now the preface of arbitrary arrests and other forms of human right violations because there are usually no means to report such to the outside world. Africa leaders must begin to set exemplary examples and president Nkurunziza should not be an exception.
@SolaFagro
—————————————————————————————————————————————-
‘Sola Fagorusi is a social entrepreneur and a prized freelance writer with a bias for youth and rural development. He started off as a youth staff with Action Health Incorporated in 2001. The Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife alumnus currently manages the programmes ofOneLife Initiative, Nigeria. ‘Sola is a DESPLAY Africa (Africa’s foremost and most consistent annual youth democracy academy) fellow and has been on its faculty since 2011. Keenly interested in governance and pan-Africanism, he volunteers as online editor of YouthHub Africa; a cyber-community for young Africans involved in social change. He believes in the efficacy of oratory and writing as tools to drive developmental engagements. As a freelance writer, he spares time to pen thoughts on contemporary societal issues and is a weekly columnist with Nigeria’s most read daily ? Punch Newspaper. His training and capacity cuts across democracy and governance, leadership, micro-enterprise, ICT4D, SRH, value chains, development communication and policy issues. He tweets @SolaFagro and blogs at www.kadunaboy.com
