In an interview with Rajii Media TV on June 6, 2026, Kefa Nibizi, president of the Codebu party, stated that both parties would benefit from overcoming their differences and prioritizing dialogue rather than resorting to the ongoing legal proceedings before the Supreme Court.
According to him, neither Agathon Rwasa, despite the significant electoral base he retains, nor the CNL led by Nestor Girukwishaka, weakened by internal divisions, can claim to have a significant impact on the political scene alone as the 2027 presidential election approaches.
When later questioned about the prospects for a possible rapprochement between the two sides, the president of the Codebu party offered his analysis based on his own political experience. According to him, partisan splits generally end up weakening both the original party and the one that emerged from the breakaway.
He cites in particular the case of the Frodebu-Nyakuri party, which emerged from a split within Sahwanya-Frodebu in 2008.
Although this new formation attracted several parliamentarians at the time, it failed to gain electoral ground in the 2010 municipal elections. At the same time, he explains, Sahwanya-Frodebu also suffered the consequences of this split and gradually lost its influence.
According to this political figure, this type of crisis often stems from internal conflicts that were not handled carefully enough to prevent a breakdown.
While external actors may sometimes encourage or exploit these divisions, he believes the root causes generally remain internal to the parties involved. These fractures also leave lasting scars, fueling a climate of mistrust that complicates any attempt at reconciliation.
Mr. Nibizi thus acknowledges that an immediate return to the previous situation seems unlikely in the case of the CNL. The accumulated disputes, mutual accusations, and resentments stemming from the crisis constitute, in his view, real obstacles to a rapid reconciliation.
He also does not rule out the possibility that certain actors, interested in maintaining these divisions, might seek to discourage any reconciliation initiative.
Nevertheless, he believes that dialogue remains the only way to achieve a lasting resolution to the crisis. Failing an immediate restoration of pre-split structures, he suggests that both sides could initially consider more flexible forms of collaboration to gradually rebuild trust.
This approach could then pave the way for more elaborate cooperation mechanisms, or even a deeper rapprochement. “The separation can sometimes be brutal , but reconciliation is often slow .”
Furthermore, the head of Codebu admits that any lasting solution will involve gradual steps allowing the different parties to rebuild trust before considering a possible restoration of structures capable of reassuring all the protagonists.
