P.J.
0
Burundi: Where jogging is a crime
Burundi's football-loving president is rumoured to be standing for a controversial third term, despite the two-term limit in the current constitution. It's one factor contributing to mounting tensions in the nation, where it now seems a morning jog could result in life imprisonment.
The drive out of Bujumbura last Saturday provided an image that will stay with me for a long time yet.
It was just after dawn, and we were climbing away from Lake Tanganyika, towards the high plateau of the interior. The escarpment wound on and on. From time to time, on my left, the curtain of banana trees and acacias would swing open, and the hills and valleys would spill away from us, towards a horizon of forest.
But it was the view to my right that entranced me.
Tucked between the narrow road and the side of the hill, the people of Bujumbura were running. Up, and up. A great, long line of them.
Some were in clusters - others, in their private reveries. Most were young men. But I also saw a man and a woman - of late middle age and generous girth - running together and holding hands.
The tradition of Saturday morning runs started during Burundi's long years of ethnic conflict. The last spasm of war only ended back in 2005, with 300,000 dead from the population of eight million. Then, no-one jogged up these hills.
This was where the militias - now the men of government - would hide.
So it was in the city of Bujumbura itself that people would try to vent their fear and frustration and claustrophobia, by running, often in a group.
But on this Saturday morning I was taken aback to see some young men, running together, as a group. It was a surprise, because back in March, the country's president, Pierre Nkurunziza had decreed that such a practice was to be banned.
He feared it was being used as a cover for subversion.
Indeed, some people are now spending a very long time in prison in part, at least, because of their group jogging. They're members of the opposition Movement for Solidarity and Democracy (MSD) Party - sentenced to jail terms ranging from five years to life.
The 49-year-old president, for his part, remains an enthusiastic consumer of team games - football in particular.
He has his own side, Hallelujah FC, for whom, according to government leaflets, he plays as a striker and often scores goals.
I'd already been made aware of the president's penchant for a kick-about as I drove, with my colleagues, back from an interview in town.
Suddenly, a policeman and a soldier started waving their hands at us to get off the street - a frantic, wringing motion, as if they'd trapped their hands in a dog's mouth.
Read more from here
BBC News - Burundi: Where jogging is a crime
Burundi's football-loving president is rumoured to be standing for a controversial third term, despite the two-term limit in the current constitution. It's one factor contributing to mounting tensions in the nation, where it now seems a morning jog could result in life imprisonment.
The drive out of Bujumbura last Saturday provided an image that will stay with me for a long time yet.
It was just after dawn, and we were climbing away from Lake Tanganyika, towards the high plateau of the interior. The escarpment wound on and on. From time to time, on my left, the curtain of banana trees and acacias would swing open, and the hills and valleys would spill away from us, towards a horizon of forest.
But it was the view to my right that entranced me.
Tucked between the narrow road and the side of the hill, the people of Bujumbura were running. Up, and up. A great, long line of them.
Some were in clusters - others, in their private reveries. Most were young men. But I also saw a man and a woman - of late middle age and generous girth - running together and holding hands.
The tradition of Saturday morning runs started during Burundi's long years of ethnic conflict. The last spasm of war only ended back in 2005, with 300,000 dead from the population of eight million. Then, no-one jogged up these hills.
This was where the militias - now the men of government - would hide.
So it was in the city of Bujumbura itself that people would try to vent their fear and frustration and claustrophobia, by running, often in a group.
But on this Saturday morning I was taken aback to see some young men, running together, as a group. It was a surprise, because back in March, the country's president, Pierre Nkurunziza had decreed that such a practice was to be banned.
He feared it was being used as a cover for subversion.
Indeed, some people are now spending a very long time in prison in part, at least, because of their group jogging. They're members of the opposition Movement for Solidarity and Democracy (MSD) Party - sentenced to jail terms ranging from five years to life.
A screaming cavalcade of security careered up the road - first the police then a dozen armed men ”
The 49-year-old president, for his part, remains an enthusiastic consumer of team games - football in particular.
He has his own side, Hallelujah FC, for whom, according to government leaflets, he plays as a striker and often scores goals.
I'd already been made aware of the president's penchant for a kick-about as I drove, with my colleagues, back from an interview in town.
Suddenly, a policeman and a soldier started waving their hands at us to get off the street - a frantic, wringing motion, as if they'd trapped their hands in a dog's mouth.
Read more from here
BBC News - Burundi: Where jogging is a crime
