What to expect during the upcoming electoral campaign in Burundi?
Briefing Issue #70, April 9, 2020
This is the online version of RegionWeek for decision-makers and young professionals, a newsletter about depth and context to Burundi and East Africa stories— written by me, Fabrice Iranzi. You can sign up for your own subscription to get concise information about game-changing events and insights straight to your inbox:
Dear RegionWeek Reader,
On April 27, 2020, in Burundi will begin the electoral campaign for the presidential, legislative and municipal elections of May 20, 2020.
Candidates will have 21-day election campaigns according to the electoral law, and the electoral campaign for the combined elections will kick off on April 27, 2020, and will be concluded on May 17, 2020.
For the senators' elections, the campaign will begin on June 27, 2020, and will end on July 17, 2020, while the electoral campaign for village councilors will run on Aug. 1 to Aug. 21.
Democratic elections require an informed as well as a free vote and a fair chance for contestants to win support and motivate supporters to help them gain office. In today’s newsletter let us examine briefly the factors that will affect this electoral campaign and what to expect:
Political Party Funding
In Burundi, the main source of funding for political parties is the contributions of their members. The constitution formally prohibits any external funding of political parties.
"Any financing likely to infringe national sovereignty is prohibited".
Public funding of political parties and electoral campaigns provided for by the law on political parties is limited to only political parties that obtained seats in the National Assembly in the last elections for MPs.
A study conducted by Burundi think-tank called Olucome in 2015 on nine main political parties found that the highest amount contributed by members of a political party was 500,000,000 Burundian francs (over $250 000) while the lowest is 17,000,000 Burundi Francs (over $10 000). Noting that only the ruling party, the CNDD-FDD and the former single party, UPRONA, have what may seem "sufficient" means.
During the Upcoming electoral campaign, this vital question will be asked , what would be a reasonable balance between public and private funding?
How will the Electoral commission play its role, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Electoral Code, in controlling the financing of electoral campaigns, with the aim of preventing and suppressing certain aspects of corruption?
We can expect: due to the lack of funding some presidential candidates will be unable to convey their positions to citizens and compete equitably for votes.
Messages
Electoral campaigns in Burundi are often fueled by provocative messaging, the language and style used can go beyond to become extremely shocking.
Analyst and commentators think speeches will mainly focus on the key topics that are of interest for Burundian now:
Peace and Security versus Refugee repatriation,
Economy and Jobs versus Corruption and sovereignty,
Justice versus Truth and Reconciliation
Industrial Agriculture Versus Revenue Sharing
Rural electrification and Water Versus Funding Mechanism
And more
Along with speeches, there will be new political song playlists at campaign rallies that tell a lot about presidential candidates. The melodies will be selected to reflect values and some political messages.
Media Coverage
The National Communication Council (CNC), an independent body that regulates the media in Burundi, has been accused of seeking to tightly control media coverage of the 2020 elections.
This was after the CNC called to sign a “media and journalist code of conduct” that provide professional coverage of the 2020 elections. The code applies to foreign journalists who will be accredited to cover the 2020 elections.
During the electoral campaign, we may expect to receive reports from the media that signed the CNC’s “code of conduct”. With all COVID-19 measures taken by the Government of Burundi, foreign journalists may be required to spend 14 days quarantine.
Like in 2015, we expect to see propagandist websites, fake social media accounts - circulating disinformation.
Use of Short Message Service
In the upcoming electoral campaign, SMS will be used a lot. In 2018, statistics showed that the number of mobile subscriptions in Burundi was at 6.32 million.
There were 56.53 mobile subscriptions registered for every 100 people in 2018.
If political campaigns managers don't have already databases ready for texting their audience, then they are already behind their opponents. SMS texting is a simple, inexpensive, and direct method of reaching a massive amount of people with essential or urgent information.
If you have politician friends in Burundi who have your phone number, you may expect to get a lot of SMS about the upcoming political campaign.
In our research on text marketing rules and regulations in Burundi, we didn’t find any documentation on what can and can’t be done, we will share updates on this.
Observers
In July 2019, the Independent National Electoral Commission-CENI said that it was open to any national or foreign organization that wishes to observe the electoral process of 2020. But for foreigners, certain conditions were required.
“We are going to set conditions for international observers. Let them not come and impose their way on us or violate our culture. If so, let them stay at home, "said Anastase Hicuburundi, CENI Commissioner.
As for local organizations, alongside the presentation of their status, their internal regulations and the determination of their areas of intervention, they will also have to specify the source of their funding. If their funding is external, they are asked to reveal the name of their sponsors.
"It is to avoid any illicit funding which would tarnish the credibility of the elections" explained the president of the CENI, Pierre Claver Kazihise.
We already know and expect that the East African Community will send Observers, in his tweet this Thursday the EAC Secretary-general announced that Hon. Mizengo Pinda, Former Prime Minister (2008-2015) of Tanzania will lead the EAC Elections Observation Mission to Burundi.
The bottom Line
Election campaigns provide candidates and political parties with opportunities to present their message to citizens, helping voters make educated and informed decisions on election day. We expect and hope that elections will be genuinely competitive to offer equitable opportunities for contestants to convey their positions to citizens and compete for votes.
Thanks for reading!
Fabrice Iranzi, Editor
RegionWeek.com
If you wish to support this Newsletter we created a $5/Month subscription plan, you can join our Premium community of supporters by clicking here
RegionWeek is a Burundi-based media for a new generation of achievers in Africa, a platform devoted to chronicling the journey to Freedom and Empowerment.