Burundi : intimidation, forced mobilization, and propaganda in Makamba : CNDD-FDD under fire

SOS Médias Burundi

Makamba, May 27, 2025 – As Burundi’s legislative and elections elections approach, the campaign of the ruling CNDD-FDD party is raising serious concerns in Makamba province (southern Burundi). Accused of intimidating the population through belligerent messages and forcibly mobilizing pupils and business owners, the ruling party is in the crosshairs of the civil society and the opposition.

In several neighborhoods of Makamba district, official vehicles equipped with loudspeakers, belonging, according to witnesses, to public services such as health and district administration, are playing election songs at high volume. But it was one passage in particular, taken from a speech by CNDD-FDD Secretary General Révérien Ndikuriyo, that shocked many residents :

“Twubake tugavye abansi barakaka. Ukuboko kumwe gufate micro ukundi gufate inkizo, rwaruka mubona murya mukaryama mukiga ntimwibazeko igihugu ari umukate umwana arira bagaca bamuha, kiragwanirwa!”

Translation : “Let us build with caution, the enemies are furious. One hand holds the microphone, the other a weapon; youth, while you eat, sleep, and study, do not think that the country is a cake given to a crying child—we must fight for it!”

These words, repeated repeatedly in public, are perceived as veiled threats. “These are scary messages; they want us to believe that not supporting their party means being an enemy of the nation,” confided a resident of the Nyaburumba neighborhood, who requested anonymity.

Children deprived of school, traders forced to participate

On Wednesday, May 21, the CNDD-FDD campaign crossed another red line, according to several local sources. In the Musasa and Kinoso primary schools, pupils did not attend classes. They were mobilized for a party political activity in Nyabigina village. Some were ordered to dance, others simply to fill the ranks to increase numbers.

“These children should have been in school that day, but they were sent to march for the party. This is not normal,” lamented a teacher from Makamba dstrict.

Late in the afternoon of the same day, the Makamba central market was partially paralyzed. The site manager, known as FOFANA, reportedly ordered the closure of certain stalls to allow traders to participate in a CNDD-FDD rally.

“We’re closing our stalls even though they’re our only source of income, all for a political event we don’t even want to attend,” complained one merchant.

A climate of fear denounced by the opposition

The civil society and the opposition coalition Burundi Bwa Bose denounce an increasingly oppressive climate in Makamba.

“The use of public vehicles, the dissemination of warlike slogans, and the forced mobilization of pupils and traders are practices that are more intimidation than democracy,” accused a local coalition official.

These methods are reminiscent of the electoral abuses observed in previous elections in Burundi. In the small east African nation, where freedom of expression remains fragile, numerous cases of arbitrary arrests and political violence have already been documented in recent weeks.

With the election campaign in full swing, the incidents reported in Makamba have rekindled fears of a closed election, in which the neutrality of public institutions and fundamental rights, such as education and freedom of assembly, appear to be relegated to the background.