The President of Burundi, Pierre Nkurunziza, died in his home last weekend, just weeks before he was due to give up his 15-year title. In a statement on 9 June, the government confirmed he died from heart failure, although news outlets such as the Guardian have linked his death to coronavirus. Nkurunziza came to power in 2005, following the end of the 12-year civil war between Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups. However, his attempt to secure a third term of the presidency in 2015 plunged the country into more violence. His death comes at a contentious time for Burundi; the nation expelled a WHO health team in the run-up to their May election, using coronavirus quarantine to prevent outsiders from monitoring actions at the polls.
Nkurunziza was born in December 1964, soon after the country’s independence from Belgium. While he was born to a Hutu father and a Tutsi mother, he considered himself ethnically Hutu. Prior to joining his political party, the Conseil National Pour la Défense de la Démocratie – Forces pour la Défense de la Démocratie (CNDD–FDD), he was a university professor. However, he was forced to flee in 1995, and spent several years in hiding before joining the leadership ranks of the CNDD-FDD, becoming their president in 2000. A series of peace talks in 2003 led to the re-integration of the CNDD-FDD into National Politics (the party was banned, and Nkurunziza had been sentenced to death in absentia). Before becoming the official president he was the minister of ‘Good Government and the General Inspection of the State’ in the country’s post-war transition period. He was finally elected in 2005, pledging to “unite the country and bring peace”.
Nkurunziza is due to be succeeded by another CNDD-FDD politician, Evarsiste Ndayishimiye, a former army general. Ndayishimiye was elected in May with 68% of the vote (a figure his opposition has contested). Although Nkurunziza’s decision not to run was a pleasant surprise human rights activists in the region, the International Crisis Group has placed the country at risk of conflict. The CNDD-FDD has a notorious dislike for journalists, and expelled the UN Human Rights Office in 2019. Nkurunziza threatened any and all protesters prior to this election; protests following his 2015 decision to run for a third term were violently repressed. At least 400,000 have fled the country since.
Undoubtedly, Ndayishimiye is inheriting power over a difficult and divided nation. Burundi has not taken the same steps its neighbours, Rwanda and Uganda, to combat coronavirus; Nkurunziza said it was under ‘divine protection’. Politicians continued to hold rallies in the run-up, magnifying the risk of the disease spreading. While it has reported only one death and 83 cases to the WHO, this is likely an undercount. Meanwhile, the economy is struggling – Burundi lies near the bottom of global GDP per capita ranking, and nearly 75% of people live below the poverty line.
According to Lewis Mudge, the Central Africa director at Human Rights Watch, Pierre Nkurunziza’s legacy is one of “ruthless repression”. Its ranking on Freedom House is also near the bottom, similar to Yemen and other conflict-torn countries. Mudge contends that “Burundi’s leadership should demonstrate its commitment to human rights reform by taking urgent steps to put an end to the widespread abuse and make clear that the transition will result in a meaningful opening of political space.” Experts hope that Ndayishimiye can reassure the generals and key cadres in his party, and successfully open up a new chapter in Burundi’s history. However, few are in doubt the scale of this challenge.
