“Burundi Has a New Neighbor It Doesn’t Like” - Senator Evode Uwizeyimana Warns After Uvira Falls to AFC/M23

Burundian Senator Evode Uwizeyimana has warned that Burundi must come to terms with AFC/M23 following the group’s capture of Uvira, cautioning that continued confrontation could plunge the country into intractable political, economic, and security problems.

Speaking in an interview aired on National Television, Uwizeyimana said the seizure of Uvira, a strategic city in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has fundamentally altered Burundi’s regional environment, leaving the country with what he described as a new and unwelcome neighbor.

On December 15, 2025, the senator explained that Uvira’s importance lay in its dual role as both the center of military planning against AFC/M23 and the backbone of Burundi’s cross-border trade.

“All those who were defeated in Goma and Bukavu, including the Governor of Kivu and Wazalendo fighters, were there,” Uwizeyimana said.

According to the senator, the concentration of forces hostile to AFC/M23 in Uvira turned the city into a prime military target.

He said the arrival of the AFC/M23 coalition in Uvira, where it regrouped and prepared new operations, ultimately led to the capture of the city, the neutralization of armed opponents, and the creation of a strategic dilemma for Burundi-one that may force Bujumbura to negotiate directly with the fighters now controlling the area.

“If M23 continues to advance southwards, Burundi would be isolated, with only Tanzania left,” Uwizeyimana warned. “There is also the port of Mpurungu in Zambia, but it is far away. What is clear is that trade between Bujumbura and Uvira shows how much this city means to Burundi.”

Uwizeyimana also pointed to the plight of Burundian soldiers deployed in eastern DRC, describing the situation as increasingly untenable.

“Some Burundian soldiers have returned home, which is good, but others remain trapped in the mountains,” he said. “The question is: where will those who remain go? Burundi will have to reach an agreement with M23 to allow them a way out.”

He stressed that Burundi now faces a harsh reality.

“Burundi today has a new and unfriendly neighbor-one that came to us against our will, because we opposed it, failed to repel it, and could not drive it away,” Uwizeyimana said.

Addressing the timing of the offensive, the senator dismissed claims that the capture of Uvira was linked to the peace agreement signed in the United States between Rwanda and the DRC.

Instead, he said AFC/M23 acted after months of careful preparation, fully aware that large numbers of troops and heavy equipment had been deployed in Uvira following its victories in Goma and Bukavu.

Uwizeyimana added that while the DRC government had entered negotiations with the group and agreed to a cessation of hostilities, the failure to implement those agreements convinced AFC/M23 that the talks were yielding no results.

As a result, the group resumed fighting and succeeded in capturing additional territories, including Uvira.

Following the fall of Uvira in South Kivu Province, the Burundian government closed the Kavimvira and Vugizo border crossings with the DRC, halting trade and movement.

The decision came amid an already tense regional climate, after borders between Burundi and Rwanda had also been closed for a prolonged period.

Uwizeyimana’s remarks underscore growing concern within Burundi’s political class that the country is entering a new geopolitical reality, one in which dialogue with AFC/M23 may no longer be optional, but unavoidable.