Nkurunziza travels outside Burundi for first time in two years

Burundian president, Pierre Nkurunziza, has traveled outside the country for the first time in two years.

The BBC reports that the 53-year-old leader had left Bujumbura to Tanzania. Incidentally, his last overseas trip was to Tanzania when an attempted coup was foiled.

For the past two years, Nkurunziza has remained in Bujumbura with top regime officials representing him at international summits like the African Union (A.U.) and the United Nations (U.N.)

According to reports he traveled with a ministerial contingent which suggests that bilateral meetings could be imminent whiles he is in Dar Es Salaam.

His Tanzanian counterpart, John Magufuli has had cause to call on the European Union to desist from placing sanctions on Burundi.

At a recent East Africa Community (EAC) summit he is reported to have said “They (Europeans) are taking sanctions against Burundi when they are also facing difficulties at home like the Brexit.”

Tanzania is home to droves of Burundian nationals who have been fleeing political tensions in their country following sporadic gun battles and grenade attacks.

The country continues to experience serious political crisis which started since April 2015 when President Pierre Nkurunziza presented himself as a candidate for a third controversial mandate. He was subsequently re-elected in July of the same year.

The violence has already claimed 500 to 2,000 lives, according to United Nations and other Non-Governmental Organizations. Hundreds of cases of enforced disappearances and torture have forced more than 400,000 Burundians into exile.