By Roy Lie Atjam
Wassenaar, 2nd July 2021. H.E. Mr Gamaliel Nkurunziza, Ambassador of Burundi in the Netherlands invited compatriots and friends to his residence to celebrate Burundis’59th anniversary of independence. Scores of Burundians from all walks of life and friends of Burundi accepted the invitation.
Among the attendees were those coming from neighbouring Germany and Belgium. It has been a dazzling garden party on the spacious and lush lawns of the residence.
Ambassador Nkurunziza delivered a powerful welcome address, he stressed the importance of unity among his people. Further, he paid homage to Prince Rudoviko Rwagasore, who sacrificed his life for his beloved Burundi. Other speakers at the event were members of the diaspora in the Netherlands. Their focus was also on the unity of Burundians in Burundi and beyond.
The full text of Ambassador Gamaliel Nkurunziza speech is attached hereunder.
“It is my honor, on behalf of the Government of Burundi, to address you on this occasion of the celebration of the 59th anniversary of our Independence.
This is a special and great day for Burundians. We have listen the song of our Independence, and we must take all the words from our National Anthem as our guidance because this song is full of inspirations and a lot of teachings.
From the day it was sung “Everything reflects the image of our country”. Burundians must therefore take it by heart, and that must be put into practice in everything they do, in everything they say, and in their behavior such as the wish to “Be respected at the international level” which is contained in the national anthem. Consequently, the Nation will respect Burundi because “A Man is respected as he is”.
“To have a significant place in the realm of the concert of the nations” (Shinga icumu mu mashinga) which is a patriotic value and behavior characterizing someone who is independent especially Burundian. According to the Speech of the hero of Independence, we are all invited to evaluate our progress through our reflection of different values such as: patriotism, integrity, unity, humanity. True Burundians are known by these values.
I take this opportunity to thank every one of you for having sacrificed your others important occupations to attend this event knowing how busy you can be in this country. Starting to the one who helped in the preparation of this event, those who have come from far, they are many who made a big effort to come here after work. Thank you so much. This witnessed that Burundians are united and are characterized by love.
Today is an important day for our country and for Burundians living here in the Netherlands. This is time to make up our mind because this day we celebrate our Independence day is a good opportunity to take a look on were we come from and where we are going especially in following steps for people who guided us in the process of fighting for our independence “The Prince Rudoviko Rwagasore” who sacrificed his life so that Burundian can be independent, his will always be our hero.
In fact, the motto of the hero of our Independence, Prince Louis Rwagasore, was Progress. In order to achieve Development, he emphasized on the role of cooperatives, working together for all Burundians need to progress because no single Burundian would be left behind.
It is in that view that I invite every Burundian who resides in the Kingdom of the Netherlands to come and work together. Nothing should separate us. I noticed all Burundians in their differences are here to celebrate together our Independence Day.
As I promised, I encourage everyone willing to support our independence especially in the angle of developing our country, to feel free and join me as your servant. There is no place like home, we have a beautiful country.
Continuing in that angle, as Burundians living in the Netherlands, it asks us to look behind and see if we really behaved like real Burundians, if we are doing what makes our country to continue being respected in the all communities. That is what every Burundian is called for. And I am calling everyone anywhere he lives to try continue to raise voices by presenting the good image of our country. I am calling all you to become ambassadors. As Burundians, we need to be proud of our country because we are going in better future. In order to strengthen that love, I would like to emphasize on the speech of our President H.E Evariste Ndayishimiye, which he delivered on the eve of the commemoration of the 59th anniversary of the independence of Burundi, we are commemorating today.
In the speech of our President, he called up on all of us and in our different background to be united in order that to contribute to the development of our country Burundi.
Leta Mvyeyi, Leta Nkozi has given a strong signal that when we are united we become stronger. It is time we turned the page of our history because our differences are our strengths to build our country. Our President his Excellency Evaliste Ndayishimiye has become the chief Commander of our country Development and urged us to follow his commandment.
And me as the Ambassador of Burundi in the Netherlands, I am calling you with a strong tone that every Burundian must put all his effort to contribute in our country development. I also please you to stop slandering your country. Because no matter what your country will always be your country, you will never get another one. You can get as many citizenships as you like, but Burundi will always be your first country and will always welcome you as a mother.
That is why I take this opportunity to invite all of you to be ambassadors of Burundi where you live, in your neighbors, your friends and make them know that Burundi is a country full of opportunities and potentialities. Make them to be interested in your country. Myself as Ambassador, I will serve as a bridge so that your wishes and projects can be achieved in the way of contributing to the development of Burundi and Burundians.
It is true that I am one Ambassador but I am unable to reach all friends of Burundi as the ones you are neighbouring with or who you brought here. Tell them what Burundi is where it comes from and where it is going, this will an honor for Burundi. I repeat here that there no country like Burundi. It is our mother-land whatever we will become, we will remained bound to Burundi, our country. Burundi will always be our mother land.
In a recent past, some Burundians tried to destroy the image of Burundi, this is against our values. Our country is our mother and in our valuable tradition, it is forbidden to maltreat your mother, your father, and your parents. Instead you engage a dialogue or suggest pieces of advice. A Burundian who dares to ill-treat, to destroy the image of their country, is considered as someone who lost their identity, their culture, and their values and in this time they are considered as cursed.
In fact, the motto of the hero of our Independence, Prince Louis Rwagasore, was Progress. In order to achieve Development, he emphasized on the role of cooperatives, working together for all Burundians need to progress because no single Burundian would be left behind.
It is in that view that I invite every Burundian who resides in the Kingdom of the Netherlands to come and we work together. Nothing should separate us. I noticed all Burundians in their differences are here to celebrate together our Independence Day.
As I promised, I encourage everyone willing to support our independence especially in the angle of developing our country, to feel free and join me as your servant.
There is no place like home, we have a beautiful country.
His Excellency our President asks us to be watching the time Burundians we must change, times have changed.
Our country underwent difficulties for decennia’s but those difficulties taught us. Now our country, Leta mvyeyi, Leta Nkozi in front of us invites us to achieve projects that every Burundian will benefit from, everything will come from us, not outside. Let’s then unite ourselves, walk hand in hand for seek of the development of our country and the outsider will join us. I am an Ambassador at a leading position and you are also ambassadors at your levels. We are called to promote the image of our country and this will lead to the true development of our country.
Living in difficulties is part of life. Even in the Netherlands went through hard times but now they overcame the hard moments. I am sure that they lough at us when a Burundian is damaging the image of his Country. What matters is not what we went through in the past, what matter is how we are managing our present to prepare a good future for us and generations to come.
For our dream future to become a reality every Burundian need to bring his part of contribution
Allow me to come back to our President speech when he emphasized that the solution of our problem will be found within Burundians themselves. Let us have trust in our leaders and not let any of us damage the image of our country or otherwise, they will be considered as cursed. Let us change positively and join the call of our President to rebuild the image of our country in the concert of the nations. I will do everything in my power with as Ambassador but your part is more powerful to reach where I will be unable to reach. As I mentioned it before, I am ready to welcome any Burundian who will be willing to contribute to the country development plan.
Let us build Burundi for the future of our children and generations to come. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all Burundians living in the Netherlands the ones who were able to get here today also the one who could not be here because of others obligations for being united like I found them, I hope that the spirit of unity, integrity and humanity you showed me will always be the motto of Burundian community in the Netherlands and that is what has always characterized Burundians.
Eventually, since my arrival in the Netherlands, whenever I needed you, you responded positively and massively. This shows me that tomorrow is bright and that the future holds many good surprises for us. Today was a working day, after work you were tired and you had to rest or do other personal tasks but you sacrificed all of that to attend this celebration. I thank you so much for your sacrifice.
Let us remain united, let us contribute to the promotion of the image of our country and most importantly, let us focus on the development of Burundi. Enjoy this celebration of our 59th Independence day. And May God Bless you all.
