Bujumbura: a chaotic results collection, the opposition calls for rerun of polls

Bujumbura, June 8, 2025 — Following the legislative and district elections of June 5, the new province of Bujumbura (western Burundi) has been rocked by a series of disturbing revelations regarding the collection of results. In several districts, election officials and polling station officials have reported irregular practices that have undermined the credibility of the election.

According to consistent reports from the districts of Mabayi, Bukinanyana, Gihanga, Musigati, Mpanda, Mutimbuzi, and Kabezi, the number of voters who cast ballots, in some cases, exceeded the number of registered voters.

“We noticed that ballots continued to be placed in the ballot boxes, often in the names of unknown individuals,” confided an electoral supervisor on condition of anonymity.

Some agents were reportedly seen with ballot booklets, which they allegedly placed in the ballot boxes without any legal framework.

In Musigati, the president of the district commission himself acknowledged that the figures collected did not correspond to the reality on the ground. Shocked by the scale of the irregularities, he reportedly refused to transmit the results to the provincial level.

“This situation is intolerable. It discredits the entire electoral process,” he declared.

Alerted, the Bujumbura provincial electoral commission rejected the figures received from the implicated districts, demanding that they be revised within two days, by Monday, June 9.

“We were not fooled.” “The work must be redone properly,” insisted a member of this body.

These dysfunctions quickly sparked a wave of protests. Opposition leaders, as well as some members of the ruling party, denounced what they called “electoral fraud on an unprecedented scale in Burundi.” They demanded the outright cancellation of the election and the organization of new elections as soon as possible.

Contacted on this subject, the president of the Provincial Electoral Commission for Bujumbura province sought to be reassuring, stating that the results were still being compiled.

“We must wait until the end of the process to announce the provisional results,” he stated.

In the meantime, the political climate remains tense in Bujumbura. Many voters are expressing their frustration, while attention is now turning to the National Electoral Commission, the only body authorized to resolve this electoral crisis, which has the air of a scandal.