Burundi: A voice from inside; how critics are killed

President Pierre Nkurunziza’s decision to seek a third term, which he won in a disputed election, has triggered months of violence, including an abortive coup in Burundi.

At least 240 people have been killed since April and about 215,000 others have fled to neighboring countries from the Capital Bujumbura where violence and tension seems to be the order of the day.

Even as this happens, two Burundi nationals are among the lucky few who have managed to escape from the war torn country and their story is heartbreaking.

During an exclusive interview with Citizen Digital, the two Burundians, and who requested anonymity, claim that President Nkurunziza’s government has been killing its critics since he started his controversial third term.

“The current situation in Burundi is clear, more than 200 people have died in two days and now the government is targeting any group unlike previously where it targeted the opposition,” one of them two Burundians said.

Most of those who have fallen victim of the killings are young men between 15 and 16 years of age and are unarmed.

“They kill them in such a ruthless manner; some are beheaded while others are tied up and shot dead and in worst scenarios, some are found dead in the streets with their hearts cut out.”

The killings have brought about a climate of fear in the East African country forcing most of her residents to flee to neighboring countries.

“We are among the few who got lucky and fled,” the other victim noted.

On Friday and Saturday, fleeing residents were blocked from leaving the country by blocking roads and dragging them from buses.

The situation, according to the two, has now turned ethnic with the authorities targeting one of the main ethnic groups.

The two Burundians, however, said nobody can paint a clear picture of what the cause of the flare-up is and heavily rely on the media to monitor progress.

The government banned all private media stations from broadcasting in the wake of the deadly infighting in the country.

The two said media freedom has been curtailed in the country adding that in May all radio stations were closed with only one station being allowed to continue broadcasting but limited from televising news about the ongoing war.

On Tuesday, Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho said that Kenyans living in the volatile Burundi will not be evacuated as the current situation does not warrant such a move.

Speaking to Hot96 FM, Kibicho intimated that the violence in Burundi has put Kenya in a delicate position given we are a major investor in the unstable East African Country.

Kibicho, however, added that evacuating Kenyans will send a wrong message to Burundi led by President Pierre Nkurunziza who took office for a controversial third term.

The crisis in Burundi alarms Western powers, which worry it, may slide back into conflict after emerging from an ethnically fueled civil war 10 years ago.

They fear it could destabilise a region where memories of the 1994 genocide in neighbouring Rwanda are still raw.