Giharo : intimidation and targeted exclusions during the district elections

SOS Médias Burundi

Rutana, June 8, 2025 – Electoral tensions are skyrocketing in several localities in Giharo district, in Rutana province (southeastern Burundi). On the ground, numerous accounts reveal intimidation, harassment, and targeted exclusion of opposition party electoral monitors in favor of the CNDD-FDD.

At Kabingo I school, voters were escorted to the polls by members of the CNDD-FDD youth league, the Imbonerakure. There, they reminded them “not to cast the wrong vote” and to follow the instructions they received. These thinly veiled threats were intended to ensure a 100% vote for the CNDD-FDD, according to a polling station member who agreed to speak anonymously.

In several areas such as Gakungu and Muzye, all opposition party monitors were expelled from polling stations, leaving the sole control of the polls to supporters of the ruling party. In Giharo Centre, no other party was allowed to oversee the voting process. The results reportedly showed scores exclusively favoring the CNDD-FDD, with other parties receiving zero votes, even in the district and legislative elections.

A serious incident was also reported in Mutwana. A young opposition activist, a member of UPRONA, named Ezechiel, was reportedly the victim of an extortion attempt by village chief Vincent Nemerimana. Nemerimana allegedly demanded 50,000 Burundi francs on the pretext that the young man was campaigning against the ruling party. After he refused, Imbonerakure were reportedly mobilized to monitor him and threaten him with detention. Under pressure, Ezechiel finally handed over the sum, which earned him his release.

Despite calls for help and the lack of evidence against Ezechiel—who didn’t even have a voter registration card—local authorities reportedly ignored these complaints.

These events raise fears of a climate of impunity and growing authoritarianism in Giharo district, where democracy is being trampled by systematic intimidation and targeted exclusion.