Former Burundi EAC minister Hafsa Mossi shot dead

Former Burundi EAC Affairs minister Hafsa Mossi at a meeting at the Hilton Hotel in Nairobi on March 14, 2011. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP 

13.July 2016

Ms Mossi was the current chair of the East African Legislative Assembly Burundi chapter.

Former Burundi minister for East African Community (EAC) affairs Hafsa Mossi has been shot dead by unknown gunmen outside her home in Bujumbura.

“She was near her home and a tinted car knocked her from behind, she went out to see what happened and was shot twice,” a close relative told The EastAfrican.

Ms Mossi was the chairman of the East African Legislative Assembly's (EALA) Burundi chapter and had played a critical role in Burundi’s integration into the EAC.

She was the first Burundi EAC minister and had been conducting sensitisation workshops with the EALA's Burundi chapter with different stakeholders at the grassroots level on the benefits of Burundi's integration into the bloc.

The killing is the latest in a series of targeted assassinations of top government officers by unknown armed groups.

The political crisis in Burundi began last year when President Pierre Nkurunziza decided to run for a third term, sparking protests. Since then, more than 500 people have been killed and thousands have fled the country fearing for their lives.