African press review 20 July 2015

The situation in Burundi on the eve of a controversial presidential election, tensions between Bujumbura and Kigali over support for Pierre Nkurunziza, one reason why South Africa's tourism industry is losing so much money and Kenya looks forward to the arrival of US President Barack Obama.

Burundi’s government yesterday halted last-ditch negotiations with opposition parties. The talks had been aimed at resolving the political crisis over President Pierre Nkurunziza’s bid to have himself reelected for a third term.

Burundi’s Interior Minister Edouard Nduwimana said that Uganda, which is mediating the talks, was asked to allow an "interruption" of the dialogue and signalled that the Bujumbura government could abandon the negotiations altogether.

Burundi is scheduled to vote in a presidential election tomorrow, a poll that the opposition has vowed to boycott.

A source from the five-nation East African Community (EAC), which designated Uganda as the main mediator in the crisis, said the process now appeared to be "dead"   as Ugandan Defence Minister Crispus Kiyonga resumed talks with the opposition but without any government representative.

Three of the eight presidential candidates have already pulled out of the race, leaving Nkurunziza on track for a near-certain victory.

Regional paper The East African reports that claims that Rwanda is providing refuge to Burundians who plan to launch a rebellion against Nkurunziza’s government could strain relations between the two countries.

Canisius Ndayimanisha, the governor of Burundi's Kayanza Province, said rebels yesterday crossed the border from Rwanda and engaged the Burundian army, leaving 31 rebels dead and 170 captured. Six government soldiers were injured in the fighting and a cache of arms seized.

On the front page of South African financial paper BusinessDay, there's a warning that the country's new visa regulations have dampened growth in international tourist arrivals over the past two years.

A report last month said South Africa’s tourism industry lost the rand equivalent of nearly 70 million euros in direct spending last year because of the new visa regulations and warned a further 90 million will be lost this year.

The latest warning, in a report commissioned by Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom, says additional administrative burdens, including biometric visas and requiring unabridged birth certificates, were impractical and likely to result in many tourists choosing other destinations.

BusinessDay also says that the trial of Chad’s former dictator in Senegal on charges of crimes against humanity offers Africa a chance to show it can hold its leaders to account.

The start of the trial of Hissène Habré today concludes a 15-year battle by victims and rights campaigners to bring the former leader to justice.

Habré is blamed by rights groups for widespread torture and the killing of up to 40,000 people during his eight-year rule.

Though African presidents have been tried in their own countries for crimes committed in office, this trial marks the first time that a court in one country has prosecuted the former ruler of another on rights charges, according to the Human Rights Watch group.

The trial comes a month after Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir’s escape from an international arrest warrant in South Africa marked a new low in relations between Africa and the International Criminal Court based in Holland.

The Kenyan papers are all excited about this week's visit by US president Barack Obama.

The main story in The Standard says that Obama's arrival late next Friday to attend the 2015 Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Nairobi, will occasion some disruptions because of closure of roads and massive security checks.

As many as 10,000 security officers will be deployed in addition to the visiting president’s security team.

Police officers have been mobilised from Coast, Central, Eastern and Rift Valley regions to help beef up security in Nairobi. In the capital, police are facing an accommodation crisis owing to the number of officers who have been drafted in from other areas.

The Daily Nation says the US president’s rally on Sunday is likely to attract a crowd of 300,000, in the unlikely event that it is open to all.

Obama will speak to Kenyans from the Safaricom Indoor Arena of the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, according to State House.

The exact format of the meeting, like most aspects of his visit, is still a closely guarded secret.

The main story in regional paper The East African is a wish list from the east African bloc to the American president.

Trade ministers from the five East African Community partner states have made a formal request to the US government asking it to relax the stringent measures imposed on their agricultural exports and to reduce tariffs on sugar and cotton.