The Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS) co-hosted a symposium on elections, security, and good governance at the King’s Conference Center in Bujumbura, Burundi on Tuesday, September 10, 2013, in partnership with the ACSS chapter in Burundi (ABUCESA) and the U.S. Embassy.

The 70 participants included a veritable cross-section of Burundi’s electoral stakeholders, including political party leaders, parliamentarians, government officials, military and police representatives, civil society groups, academia, religious leaders, and media outlets. The deliberations focused on the roles and responsibilities of actors in democratic elections, with particular emphasis on political parties, youth groups, and media; mechanisms to prevent or mitigate electoral violence; and the situation in Burundi.

During the opening ceremony, Major General Sylvestre Nimubona, the ACSS chapter president and legal representative, explained why the chapter had selected elections and security as the topic and shared his hope that Burundi would conduct a free, fair, and secure electoral process in 2015, “resulting in a country with rule of law.”

The general’s vision of the future was echoed by U.S. Ambassador Dawn Liberi, who shared her confidence that Burundi will use the 2015 elections “to show the EAC [East African Community]  and the rest of the continent that post-conflict elections, with the participation of the opposition, can be conducted fairly and without violence.”

Story by Africa Center for Strategic Studies