Treacherous and deceitful Museveni’s dealings with Burundi started in the early 1980s when he asked the then President Jean-Baptiste Bagaza to help him topple Milton Obote. With the blessing of President Julius Nyerere, President Bagaza provided the National Resistance Army (NRA) military equipment worth more than US$8million dollars as a long term loan.

President Nyerere had a dream of a powerful East African regional bloc. With Bagaza’s Burundi on his side, he undertook many efforts to liberate Uganda from Obote and identified destitute and treacherous Museveni as the leader to usher in democracy in Uganda, today’s “Matooke Republic,” and strengthen regional alliances. But little did he know that dishonest Museveni was only interested in conquering power and enriching himself.

The 1987 coup in Burundi – led by Major Pierre Buyoya – that overthrew Bagaza disrupted Nyerere’s plans. But for devious Museveni, the coup in Burundi offered an opportunity to renegotiate for his own benefit the reimbursement of NRA’s debt –which had become Uganda’s debt to Burundi – with the new government. As a result, President Bagaza who had sought exile in Uganda following the coup, was forced to resettle in Gaddafi’s Libya. 

Today, I pity Burundian people who still believe inept treacherous Museveni is going to help them develop by constructing a by-passing road to ease movements of goods without going through Rwanda. How? A lying leader of Matooke Republic should first sort his unpaid loan.