Burundi coup general threatens to intensify attacks until President Nkurunzinza bows out of third term

In an exclusive interview with KTN’s John Alan Namu, Burundian rebel general Leonard Ngendakumana, who was part of a failed coup in May 13, 2015 to topple  President Pierre Nkurunziza, has threatened further attacks until the government is overthrown.

The Deputy of Burundi’s former Intelligence chief of staff and coup leader General Godefroid Niyombare is telling President Pierre Nkurunziza to prepare for war.

“There was a need to organize that coup to make a change in the country because the situation was very bad. We had noticed that Mr. Nkurunzinza and his team were leading the country into a situation of civil war and we could not accept that our population our country is led into a civil war,” he said.

The crisis in Burundi is as a result of Nkurunziza’s bid to vie for presidency in a third consecutive five-year term in office, a move which his opponents term as unconstitutional and a violation of a peace deal that ended years of civil wars in 2005.

The coup leader General Godefroid Niyombare had on May 13 attempted to overthrow the government while President Nkurunzinza was in Tanzania attending an emergency meeting to discuss the unrest in Burundi.

The coup was however defeated after the army and police in support of Nkurunzinza overpowered the opponents team.

Ngendakumana also admitted to being behind for the recent grenade attacks targeting police officers. “We organized ourselves so that we can keep fighting him that’s why all those actions ongoing in the country we are behind them and our intention is to intensify them until Nkurunzinza understands that we are there to make him understand by force that he has to give up his third term,” Ngendakumana said.

"Anybody threatening the security of Burundi, either inside or outside, will meet the full force of our defence and security forces," Burundi presidential spokesman Gervais Abayeho said in response to Niyombare statement.

The general accused Nkurunzinza of taking Burundi back to the days of a civil war. He further claimed that the coup leader Niyombare was in Burundi and that he was still taking orders from him.

In the meantime,East African Leaders Summit meeting in Dar Es Salaam is ongoing as they discuss the crisis in Burundi in the run up to the elections scheduled to take place on July 12.

Thousands of refugees are fleeing the country into neighboring countries in fear of civil war in the coming election.