Ethnic and Political Conflicts Resolution in Burundi: The Contribution of Religious Organisations

Abstract

Far from being ‘ethnic groups’ as is the case in several African countries, the Hutu, Tutsi, Twa and Ganwa in Burundi should constitute one and the same ethnic group since they have everything in common. Their ethnic ‘identities’ are in fact the result of the socio-political mismanagement that the country has experienced since colonisation. And despite the Arusha Agreements signed in 2000, the political stakes have always been coated with ethnicism. It is in this context that the religious organisations have worked. Thanks to their hierocratic domination over the faithful, they have been able to inculcate the ideal of ‘universal brother/sisterhood’ with relative success, so much so that politicisation erodes the efforts invested up to that point each time the electoral periods arrive. After an overview of the social construction of ethnicities and the underlying ethno-political conflicts, this chapter analyses the resolution of ethno-political conflicts by religions, showing their scope and limits. The central question is why religious organisations fail to influence the emergence of a political leadership that is committed to their ideals. They should therefore use the Inter-religious Council of Burundi to train the faithful-citizens, particularly because its objectives correspond to the content of MDG 16.