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| Late President Pierre Nkurunziza |
President Pierre Nkurunziza, a fitness enthusiast who increasingly relied on religion and repression to rule the impoverished and unstable central African nation of Burundi for 15 years, has died, the government announced on Tuesday.
He leaves behind a nation dotted with the unmarked graves of his political opponents, an economy in tatters and a question mark over whether infighting over his succession could divide the countryโs powerful generals and security chiefs.
Burundi is largely cut off by international donors after the United Nations documented the widespread rape, torture and murder of political opponents by ruling party activists and the state security forces. Independent journalists are largely in exile or in jail.
Nkurunziza, who was 55, was due to stand down in August, when retired general Evariste Ndayishimiye, who successfully stood for the ruling party in last monthโs elections, was due to take over. The opposition said the elections were marred by rigging and violence, charges rejected by the constitutional court last week.
Nkurunziza, backed by several generals, would have preferred his ally Pascal Nyabenda to succeed him, said Nelleke van de Walle, a Great Lakes analyst with the International Crisis Group think tank.
Nyabenda is a civilian who became the president of the national assembly. Nkurunziza planned to remain active in politics as โSupreme Guide of Patriotismโ, a title that came with a 1 billion Burundi franc ($535,000) pension and retirement villa.
But other generals successfully lobbied for Ndayishimiye to stand in Mayโs elections. Like Nkurunziza, he is a former militia leader from the Hutu ethnic group.
Burundiโs constitution says Nyabenda is now supposed to take over until his former rival Ndayishimiye starts his seven-year term at the end of August.
โDespite the clarity of the constitutional path, there is a risk of infighting within the CNDD-FDD (ruling party) because different generals supported different candidates during the ruling party primaries in January,โ said van de Walle.
HUMAN RIGHTS
Burundi became diplomatically isolated after 2015, when Nkurunzizaโs decision to run for a third term – a move his opponents said violated the peace deal that ended the civil war – sparked protests met with extreme violence by the youth wing of the ruling party, known as the Imbonerakure, and the security forces. Hundreds of thousands of Burundians fled into exile.
Burundi withdrew from the International Criminal Court in 2017, shut down the United Nations office on human rights last year, and expelled the representative of the World Health Organisation last month amid criticism of the governmentโs handling of the coronavirus pandemic. It has carried out very few tests and held large rallies during the election period.
โAs I learn of the passing of Pierre Nkurunziza, I think of the thousands of lives that his regime cut short. The families that wonโt see justice,โ tweeted Thierry Uwamahoro, a democracy activist and prominent government critic who lives in exile.
Journalists and human rights workers are routinely targeted. Last week, four journalists from the domestic news website Iwacu were sentenced to two and a half years in prison after they travelled to investigate reports of unrest in the northwest of the country.
HEART ATTACK
It was unclear exactly when Nkurunziza died. The government statement said the president, a keen sports enthusiast often photographed playing football, watched a game of volleyball on Saturday but fell ill that night and was taken to hospital in Karuzi in central Burundi.
His health improved on Sunday but โsurprisingly, on morning of Monday June 8, 2020, his health suddenly deteriorated and he had a heart attackโ.
Doctors provided โcardiopulmonary resuscitationโ for hours but were unable to save him.
The statement asked people to remain calm and announced seven days of mourning.
โThe government of the Republic of Burundi announced with great sadness … the unexpected death of his Excellency Pierre Nkurunziza, President of Burundi,โ the statement said.
REUTERS
