Burundi: Three Ministers Sacked over Coup Attempt

Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza has decided to sack three cabinet ministers, as protests resumed after last week’s coup attempt.

His spokesman denied that the dismissal of the defense, external relations and trade ministers was linked to the failed coup.

Soldiers fired in the air to disperse protests against President Pierre Nkurunziza running for a third term in elections due next month.

Pierre Nkurunziza returned from Tanzania last week after the unrest.

The sacked ministers’ replacements have already been appointed, including Emmanuel Ntahomvukiye as defense minister.

On May 18, soldiers fire live rounds in the as protesters chanted for President Pierre Nkurunziza to drop his plans to seek a third term in elections.

Some businesses were closed and activities stopped in the Nyakabiga, Musaga and Mutakura neighborhoods of Bujumbura.

Several alleged leaders of the coup attempt have been arrested but Gen. Godefroid Niyombare, who announced it in a radio broadcast, remains on the run.

Pierre Nkurunziza made his first official appearance in front of international media since returning from Tanzania on May 17.

He said nothing about the coup plot or the current crisis in the country.

Instead, Pierre Nkurunziza said Burundi faced a specific threat from the Somali Islamist movement al-Shabab.

Al-Shabab spokesman Sheikh Ali Mahamud Rage denied this, saying the statement was intended “to divert the world’s attention from him”.

Burundi has troops fighting al-Shabab, as part of the African Union mission in Somalia.