Fresh reports have appeared about the death of the former President of Burundi, Pierre Nkurunziza. The talk points out that the President of Burundi did not die of Coronavirus or a heart attack, but instead poisoned. President Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi has died at 55. Several have said he died of heart failure in Bujumbura on Tuesday 9 and was making preparations to hand power over to his successor, Evariste Ndayishimiye.
“The Government of the Republic of Burundi announces with great sadness the unexpected death of His Excellency, Pierre Nkurunziza, President of the Republic of Burundi, at the Karusi Fiftieth Anniversary Hospital following a cardiac arrest on June 8, 2020,” the government said in a statement on Tuesday, June 9.
Regarding the political battle in the state, President Nkurunziza was at loggerheads with many potent nations like Rwanda. Undoubtedly, many wanted him dead. It should also be noticed, there was an attempted coup against President Nkurunziza by a military sect in his country in 2015.
“I am reliably informed by a close source in Burundi that President Pierre Nkurunziza was poisoned. My Chwezi feelings also tell me so. It’s not COVID as reported or heart attack. RIP comrade, you have done your part, delivered Burundi from hell to a candle of transition democracy with a new President-elect through a peaceful election. I have no words to say my friend but I know God is going to keep you in the right place and your killers will pay heavily,” a highly placed source in Burundi told the opera news.
The Death of the President of Burundi
It’s an evolving case. The death of President Nkurunziza occurs ten days after his wife, Denise Bucumi Nkurunziza, flew to Nairobi to receive treatment after testing COVID-19 positive. President Nkurunziza appeared to have brushed aside the effects of the virus and had an election amid the epidemic. More so, he went ahead and expelled country representatives of the World Health Organization. In his country’s May polls, President Nkurunziza did not stand for the presidency. He did not compete for the Presidency for the first time in 15 years. He ruled for three terms, but the third term caused social unrest in the country.
The official document reporting the President’s death said he was ill the evening after assisting in a volleyball game in Ngozi, northern Burundi, on Saturday. They hospitalized him on Saturday after feeling sick. He seemed to be healing on Sunday and engaging with the people around, the government reports. However, the status changed on Monday, and efforts to revive him were unlikely to succeed, the officials reported. Mr. Nkurunziza was expected to resign in August after 15 years in government.
Before the actual Civil War, Mr. Nkurunziza, who had qualified in physical education, was a teacher and assistant lecturer at the University of Burundi. He escaped the 1993 massacres when racial Hutus were attacked at the university and entered the insurgent group Movements for the Preservation of Democracy (FDD). He appeared as its representative and, after the 2003 ceasefire agreement, Mr. Nkurunziza was appointed Minister of the Interior upon being voted President.
Reaction to his Death
Later, Mr. Nkurunziza rose to power in 2005, two years after the conclusion of a ten-year civil war that left 300,000 civilians dead. The ousted rebel commander was happy that his government had given stability to Burundi. Yet the organization for Human Rights blames his administration for alleged human rights violations.
These include “extrajudicial executions, disappearances, arbitrary arrests, sexual violence, extortion, beatings and intimidation,” according to Human Rights Watch.
Furthermore, his government has arrested political opponents and detained reporters. The official statement of a third term tumbled the country into a war in 2015. Some of them questioned the legitimacy of a third term attempt. It raised rage. Scores of civilians died in confrontations and ten thousand left the government. As many were fade up, a military sect planned a coup against him. However, Pierre thwarted it. After a constitutional reform, he did not stand again in the election’s last month, but he decided to resign and became recognized as the “supreme patriotism guide.” Certainly, a clever trick for a witty man.
The retirement payment of $540,000 (£440,000) and a luxury villa was also due to him. Undeniably, the citizens of Burundi knew him for his passion for soccer beyond politics. He was at one time a soccer army coach and president of the Hallelujah FC. the government announced seven days of national mourning. As per the bill of rights, the chairman of the national assembly, Pascal Nyabenda, is now to succeed him if the president dies in office. Evariste Ndayishimiye, President of May’s presidential elections, will assume the lead in August.
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