The Senate of Burundi wants the crimes committed under colonization to be uncovered

Under the auspices of the Senate Speaker, Right Honourable Emmanuel Sinzohagera, the Senate of Burundi organized a public conference on the research results on the German colonial period and the effects of the 1925 administrative reform in Burundi, on Tuesday, January 28, 2025 in the Donatus Centre in Bujumbura City.

This Conference was attended by two Deputy Speakers of the Senate, Honourable Denise Ndadaye and Honourable Fabrice Nkurunziza, parliamentarians, the former Head of State Sylvestre Ntibantunganya, members of the CNIDH, the CVR and the CENI, representatives of the diplomatic and consular corps, the United Nations System and NGOs, representatives of religious denominations, representatives of the judiciary, representatives of political parties, representatives of defence and security forces and others.

In his opening speech, the Senate Speaker of Burundi first reminded the participants that the Senate of Burundi has an important role to play in working for reconciliation between Burundians and that it cannot exercise this task without resorting to the past.

He then said that the Senate of Burundi wants the crimes committed by the settlers to be uncovered and again recalled that before the arrival of the Germans, Burundi was a well-organized country with a solid social fabric, as evidenced by the way they carried out their tasks, whether in mutual assistance during works and ceremonies.

Right Honourable Sinzohagera indicated that the settlers seized all the wealth of the country including gold, quarry, etc.

Continuing his speech, the Speaker of the Upper House of the Parliament requested that this report be recorded in an anthology of facts which have truly marked the history of Burundi.

After the opening speech, the experts who conducted this research had time to explain to the participants the consequences of colonization in all sectors of the country’s life, among others, the ethnicization of Burundian society, intercommunity hatred, socio-political crises, the destruction of cultural, political and social foundations, etc.

In his closing speech, the Senate Speaker asked that lessons drawn from this report will be taught to students in schools; and he asked Burundians to wake up while keeping in mind that it is themselves who must build their nation.