Pierre Nkurunziza

Pierre Nkurunziza (18 December 1964 – 8 June 2020) was a Burundian politician, educator, and rebel leader who served as the ninth president of Burundi from 2005 until his death in 2020. He was the longest-serving president in Burundian history, having served for nearly 15 years.

Born into a Hutu family in Bujumbura, Nkurunziza taught physical education before becoming involved in politics during the Burundian Civil War as part of the rebel National Council for the Defense of Democracy – Forces for the Defense of Democracy (Conseil National Pour la Défense de la Démocratie – Forces pour la Défense de la Démocratie, CNDD–FDD) of which he became leader in 2001. The CNDD–FDD became a political party at the end of the Civil War in January 2005 and Nkurunziza was elected president by Parliament in August of that same year.

During his first term, Nkurunziza took a number of popular policies. He rebuilt the state from the civil war, and basis of the inter-ethnic compromise enshrined in the Arusha Accords, which recognised the partition of state positions between Tutsi, Hutu, and the minority Twa ethnic groups. Nkurunziza played a major role in the demobilisation of the Party for the Liberation of the Hutu People – National Forces of Liberation (PALIPEHUTU–FNLd), the final Hutu rebel faction in the Civil War in 2008. In 2010, Nkurunziza won a second term despite boycott from opposition parties and accusations of fraud.

Nkurunziza's second term was marked by rising discontent and increasing authoritarianism. The repression of opposition members, which began as early as 2008, intensified. In 2014, jogging was banned in the fear of the exercise being a cover up for political meetings. In April 2015, Nkurunziza controversially announced he would run for a third term in the presidential election despite the Arusha Accords stating that there is a two-term limit, which subsequently caused mass unrests. The following month, a failed coup occurred in which Nkurunziza survived and went on to win the election in July. His third term was marked by continuing unrest, consolidation of power, and increasing isolation. In May 2018, a disputed constitutional referendum was held which increased term limits from five to seven years, with a limit of two terms. The following month, when the new constitution came into force, Nkurunziza announced that he will step down after his term ends in 2020. He was subsequently given the title of Supreme Guide of Patriotism (French: Guide suprême du patriotisme) in March 2020.

In the May 2020 presidential election, Nkurunziza endorsed ally and protégé Évariste Ndayishimiye as the candidate for the CNDD–FDD. Ndayishimiye subsequently won the election, but Nkurunziza died in the following month in June ahead of the planned transfer of power two months later. His cause of death was disputed as while government sources claimed that Nkurunziza died of a heart attack, other claimed that he died of COVID-19. Eventually, Ndayishimiye was sworn in as president ten days later on 18 June. While credited for rebuilding Burundi and introducing social programs earlier in his presidency, his subsequent authoritarian rule, repression of dissents and human rights abuses later on was heavily criticised.