Scarcity and surfeit : the ecology of Africa's conflicts

100 Scarcity and Surfeit

enabling small businessmen, mainly Hutu, to benefit from privatisation by

reducing bid bonds by 80%;

probing the conditions under which the right to refine and export gold had

been granted to a Belgian firm, just before the elections (implying corrupt

dealings) ;

the return of Hutu refugees, some of whom had been living in exile since

1972, and their attempts to regain their land and property: and

the replacement of many Tutsi civil servants with Hutus. (The direct and

indirect economic and political significance of civil service positions is dis-

cussed further below.)

Extremist Tutsis reacted to this perceived mortal threat to their power and
interests by assassinating President Ndadaye only a few months after liis
ina~guration.~~

1993 to the present

Ndadaye was assassinated on 21 October 1993 by members of the army in an

attempted coup d'etat. Dupont notes the

" ... expression of discontent felt by Tutsi/Bahima in the army and polit-

ical circle (who) disagreed totally with the reconciliation policies of clan

member Buyoya and his successor Ndadaye. They wanted to put a stop

to the planned inclusion of even more Hutu and other Tutsi groups in

public administration, the schools, the armed forces and the judicial

system, realising that this would inevitably lead to further erosion of

Bahima monopoly of power'?'

The assassination of the president, the speaker and deputy speaker of the
National Assembly triggered the longest and bloodiest war in Burundian his-
tory. In the provinces, Hutus killed many thousands of Tutsis in reprisal for
the death of their president, including Hutu members of UPRONA. The army
as well as individual 'Jhtsis retaliated against Hutus and FRODEBU members,
especially potential leadership successors. The total estimated number of
deaths from 1993 until today is 200 000 to 250 000.48 There are seven impor-
tant facets of the conflict since 1993:

1. The violence directly reflects the Tutsi elite's fear of losing control over the
   state through democratic reforms, and Hutu anger at having their chance
   at legitimate access so brutally denied.


2. The conflict distinguishes itself from earlier violence because the army did
   not succeed in repressing the Hutu rebellion within a few months - at the
   time of writing, the war has continued for over eight years.