Theme, “The only guarantee of effective freedom, is financial independency”
By Roy Lie Atjam
On the occasion of the 62nd Independence Day of the Republic of Burundi, H.E Ambassador Isabelle Ndahayo, hosted a reception at her residence on 6th July 2024. Despite the rain, the festivities went on as planned, commencing with a drumming session in the front court, continuing in the residence, and ultimately moving to the spacious lawn of the second court.
The event was attended by various dignitaries including Ambassadors from France, Morocco, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, and South Africa, as well as the Deputy DG of OPCW, the Secretary General of ICJ, and representatives from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and business community.
The reception was enlivened by the renowned “Le group des tambourinaires, Burundi Heritage.” The national anthems of both Burundi (Burundi Bwacu) and the Netherlands were played during the event.
H.E. Ambassador Isabelle Ndahayo delivered a celebratory speech emphasizing Burundi’s openness for business and investments. Here is a resume of Ambassador Isabelle Ndahayo discourse:
“Praise be to Almighty God, who has allowed this gathering to celebrate Burundi Nation Day, in this beautiful Kingdom of the Netherland. Normally, Burundi independency day, is celebrated annually, on 1 st July, but our Diplomatic mission has chosen to celebrate it today.
Allow me, first of all, on behalf of Burundi Government and all Burundian people who live here, in this beautiful Kingdom of the Netherland, to thank each one of you, for having accepted our invitation and decided to take this time, besides your busy agenda, to join the Burundi Diplomatic Mission in the Netherland and Burundian Community living here, in celebration of our national day, I really thank you and welcome you in this place, feel at home.
Today, we are celebrating the 62 nd anniversary of our Independence, achieved on July 1 st , 1962. It’s thanks to the efforts and patriotism of the Hero of Independency, Prince Louis Rwagasore, that the flag of Burundi was raised for the first-time, we had freedom and confidence to be a sovereign country. The Theme of this year’s independence is “The only guarantee of effective freedom, is financial independency”. Let’s be dynamic to build our country and I am 100% with the motto of our President of Republic of Burundi H.E. General Major Evariste Dayishimiye, that: “together all is possible”.
When we celebrate Independence Day, we don’t do it for the sake of celebrating, but it is an excellent occasion to pay tribute to all the heroes who understood that independence is a sine quoi none condition for the sovereignty and development of the country.
The celebration is equally, an opportunity given to us, to remind every Burundian about where our country came from, starting from the colonial era to independence and up to now. Burundi has gone through many tragic periods, which would not make our Hero of Independence happy, if he could be around, that’s why in some extend, Burundi is not at the level it was supposed to be now. I will not come back on this, because today, Burundi has decided to pursue its ancestors’ inheritance, in strengthening its independence through economic development.
I am also glad to inform you that, this year coincides with the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Burundi and the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Therefore, we cannot prevent ourselves from celebrating, because this cooperation has been very important to our country’s peace and security. The Kingdom of the Netherland contributed to the achievement of Arusha peace agreements, which has significant contribution to current stability of Burundi, and many other projects have been undertaken in Burundi.
I acknowledge and appreciate the presence of Madame Martine van Hoogstraten, the Deputy Director of the Sub-Saharan Africa Department, who is here to represent the Minister in charge of foreign affairs of the Netherlands. Her presence testifies the friendship and brotherhood between our countries and peoples. At the same time, we recognise the importance and the contribution of Heineken, a Dutch company, to our country’s development. We really appreciate and thank Heineken for everything including its contribution to this cerebration.
On behalf of the people of Burundi and on my own behalf, I would like to express our gratitude to the King and the people of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. I therefore, take this opportunity to assure you my readiness and engagement to any efforts that will be deployed by our countries to strengthen and widen our bilateral cooperation in various sectors, for the best interest of our peoples.
Yours excellencies, Distinguished guests, dear compatriots, friends of Burundi, ladies and gentlemen, Permit me to takes this opportunity to inform all of you that currently, Burundi is a safe place to be, because of its hospitality, its strategic environmental location in the heart of Africa, its climate and business opportunities which offers a virgin and wide market with very cheap labour among others. In addition, Burundi possesses an extremely rich subsoil in mineral resources, among these treasures of our country, there is nickel, gold, cobalt and oil. Burundi is a home of 3T minerals which means Tin, Tantalum and Tungsten, Burundi has also rare earths, crucial elements for modern technologies and renewable energies.
For these reasons, you can agree with me that Burundi is a country of milk and honey, a country of thousand and one mountains and opportunities. Foreign investors from all corners are therefore invited to come and explore all those opportunities waiting to be exploited. Tell them, In the heart of every Burundian, there is a sentiment of freedom, a prerequisite condition for democracy, justice, rule of law and so forth. All this made Burundi as one of the dynamic and stable country in the region.
In terms of economic development, the government of Burundi is seriously committed to fight against poverty and its effort to that effect is summarised in the vision of Burundi “Burundi an emerging country in 2040 and a developed country in 2060”.
In our region, Burundi is more interested to integrative projects in priority areas of common market such as energy, transport, infrastructure {road & railway}, the construction of the railway will allow Burundi to intensify the exploitation of nickel whose reserve are ranked among the top ten in the world.
Burundi participates and contributes in regional & international mission to maintain peace and security and the fight against terrorism, particularly in DRC, Somalia and Central Africa Republic. Burundi is happy to do so, because it is like a return of what international community did to us.
Unfortunately, even if Burundi is trying its bests to strengthen its independence for development, like any other country around the world, it is also facing global challenges.
Today, Climate change is a reality, Burundi is among affected countries in the world. This year the country, has suffered from the effect of El Nino, which caused inundations, internal displacement of people, loss of human lives, internal displacements of populations, destruction of crops in field, means of substances, houses and several socio-economic infrastructures. But the Government of Burundi together with its Partners intervened and is still mobilizing fund to deal with the issue.
To end this, allow me to thank all of you, once again, for having taken your time to join us in celebrating our national day and to listen to me. I wish you a very nice evening, use this time to enjoy Burundian cultural drummers and foods, tea and coffee which are served here and know much more about Burundi. You are most welcome. ”
“The only guarantee of effective freedom, is financial independency”.
To believers, may God bless you.
The reception concluded with a Burundian buffet, music, and an opportunity to dance to local tunes.
