Kirundo: who killed the returnee Kambayingwe?

Four people including the provincial CNDD-FDD party secretary in the province of Kirundo (Northern Burundi) and the presidential party’s youth league official at the provincial level are cited in the case of the assassination of Ferdinand Nyandwi nicknamed Kambayingwe, a former refugee from the Mahama camp in Rwanda. The victim’s wife who witnessed the scene of his abduction testified on December 6 in a meeting held by Prime Minister Gervais Ndirakobuca. She named the perpetrators of her husband’s assassination. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

The widow cited some names of the alleged murderers.

“I saw the policemen who ensure security for the provincial secretary of the CNDD-FDD party Jean Claude Mbarushimana and the leader of the Imbonerakure Abel Ahishakiye. The policemen in the presence of their leaders violently beat my husband […]” explained the widow.

“They trampled on her genitals, ribs, head,…”, reported this mother of four children.

Local sources rule out the set-up by the murderers that the victim was caught with a weapon.

“They just wanted a pretext to eliminate him,” say our sources.

CNDD-FDD officials in Kirundo blamed Kambayingwe for “his participation in the 2015 protests against another controversial mandate of the late President Pierre Nkurunziza”.

This former activist of the UPD-Zigamibanga (opposition) party allegedly hit the then provincial police commissioner who was about to get his hands on him. After that, Kambayingwe, wanted, fled to Rwanda.

Returning from the Mahama camp last year, Kambayingwe is said to have joined activists from the presidential party to carry out his project of transforming beer from fruits, peacefully

Other sources suggest the administrator of the commune of Kirundo Viateur Habimana as another suspect.

“It was him who gave the vehicle that took three people, including the widow, to attend the funeral ordered by the Kirundo administration. The remains had been thrown into the Murehe nature reserve near the Burundian-Rwandan border. He did it to cover himself otherwise he is among the instigators of the assassination, “they say.

His wife is demanding justice despite experiencing terror and intimidation.

“Vehicles of the provincial secretary of the party and the representative of the CNDD-FDD youth league are coming and going near my house. Along with the police, they come to intimidate me,” she informed Prime Minister Gervais Ndirakobuca.

The first minister ordered the governor to ensure the safety of the widow.

Even if the names of the suspects in this assassination have been disclosed, no investigation has yet been opened, laments a source familiar with the matter.

Kambayingwe is one of several cases of murder of returnees mentioned by Mahama refugees on Tuesday when they met a delegation from the Burundian government, reluctant to return to their country.

Ferdinand Nyandwi, known as Kambayingwe, was killed on November 26 and his body thrown into the Murehe nature reserve not far from the border with Rwanda. He was buried in haste on the orders of the administrative and police authorities in the province.