32 years after Ndadaye’s death : Burundi faces the unfinished legacy of democracy

SOS Médias Burundi

Bujumbura, October 21, 2025 — Burundi commemorated on Tuesday the 32nd anniversary of the assassination of President Melchior Ndadaye, the country’s first democratically elected head of state and an emblematic figure of national unity. Thirty-two years after his tragic death, the wounds of this period remain open, amidst painful memories, the quest for justice, and democratic disillusionment.

A commemorative Mass was celebrated at Regina Mundi Cathedral in the commercial capital, Bujumbura, in the presence of several political and religious figures.

In his homily, Bujumbura Archbishop Gervais Banshimiyubusa, invited Burundians to preserve President Ndadaye’s legacy by fighting injustice and working for peace.

“They killed them, it’s true, but their legacy remains. Let’s instead try to use it to achieve sustainable development and peace,” he said, recalling that the assassination of Ndadaye and his collaborators had deeply affected the nation.

A democratic legacy to defend

Thirty-two years after the events, the pain remains raw, but Ndadaye’s message remains a source of inspiration. The Archbishop emphasized the need for all citizens to learn from the past in order to avoid the mistakes that plunged the country into crisis.

Speaking after the celebration, Léonce Ngendakumana, a former comrade in arms of Ndadaye and a leading figure in FRODEBU, deplored the slow pace of the judicial process surrounding this assassination.

“The trial seems to be stalling. FRODEBU is entitled to civil reparations. We are closely monitoring this case until the party is rehabilitated,” he said.

FRODEBU and the historical context

The Front for Democracy of Burundi (FRODEBU) is the party founded by Melchior Ndadaye, that won the 1993 elections.
Melchior Ndadaye was the first Hutu head of state to take power in the small East African nation, democratically elected on June 1, 1993.

He was assassinated on October 21, 1993, after only 102 days in office, triggering a civil war that claimed the lives of more than 300,000 people, according to the UN.

The crisis ended with the 2000 Arusha Agreement, concluded between Hutu rebel movements and the former government dominated by the Tutsi minority. This arrangement allowed the former Hutu rebel group, the CNDD-FDD, now the ruling party, to come to power in 2005.

Convictions but unfinished justice

In October 2020, the Supreme Court of Burundi delivered its verdict in the trial for the assassination of President Melchior Ndadaye, held nearly 27 years after the events.

Of the 21 individuals prosecuted in this case, 17, including former President Pierre Buyoya—who died two months later—were sentenced to life imprisonment. Only five of those convicted, mainly former colonels, were in Burundi at the time.

Despite this verdict, which the Court described as “heavy,” several victims’ families and FRODEBU leaders felt that the truth had not yet fully emerged, citing partial and selective justice.

Commemorations undermined

Mr. Ngendakumana also expressed regret that the October 21 commemoration is no longer celebrated with the same solemnity as before, seeing this as a sign of democratic regression.

“President Ndadaye’s speech was not heeded as usual. There is a tendency to make people forget these days,” he denounced, calling on political parties and the government to engage in dialogue to restore meaning to this historic date.

Call for an inclusive memory

The widows and orphans of 1993, grouped within the Association of Widows and Orphans for the Defense of their Rights (AVOD), took advantage of this commemoration to demand the closure of the legal cases related to the 1993 assassinations.

They also called for the erection of a single monument, a symbol of shared memory for all the victims of various crises Burundi has experienced.

Thirty-two years later, voices agree: although Melchior Ndadaye is no more, his ideal of democracy, unity and justice remains alive.