Burundi-election : call for effective involvement of the Catholic Church in the electoral process

As Burundians prepare for elections scheduled for 2025, former President Sylvestre Ntibantunganya calls on the Catholic Church to get involved in observing these elections. He said this on the occasion of the commemoration of 52 years after the assassination of Father Michel Kayoya assassinated on May 15, 1972. This commemoration took place in Gitega, the political capital, last Friday.

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Sylvestre Ntibantunganya advocated free, transparent and democratic elections. He asked all those involved in the preparation to do so with dedication.

“We want an organization and management of results that guarantee peace, in particular fair access for candidates to public media,” he said.

On this same occasion, the former head of state regretted that the appointment of members of the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) was marred by several shortcomings, especially since until now certain political actors do not feel represented in the process.

For him, the bet will only be won thanks to the involvement of the Catholic Church which has a significant national network through its parishes. The ex-president insistently asked the bishops to engage in the process because they constitute “a credible observer” and enjoy recognized notoriety.

“Coordinated by the justice and peace commission, parishes can be frameworks in which Catholic observers with different affiliations or political opinions but who share the concern as Christians to guarantee political stability converge,” he insisted.

Monsignor Bonaventure Nahimana, Archbishop of Gitega, for his part deplored that on the eve of the elections in Burundi, we often note with disappointment tensions with negative effects, intolerance and political distrust which sabotage the principle of respect of human rights.

Monsignor Nahimana recommended that there be values ​​of acceptance and promised to begin a dynamic of reconciliation. He calls on Burundians to combat hate speech, belly politics and clientelism.

Criticism of the CVR

The Archbishop of Gitega criticized the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CVR). He deplored that the commission rushed to exhume the remains of the victims of the 1972 massacres*, even though it does not have a worthy site for the conservation of these bones and that this aggravates the trauma for the families of the victims.

In reaction to the concerns raised by Monseigneur Bonaventure Nahimana, Pierre Claver Ndayicariye, president of the CVR, recognized this observation and promised, among other things, to erect “a monument of shared memory”.

*Massacres of 1972 : the massacres which killed more Hutus than Tutsis in Burundi

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Former President of Burundi Sylvestre Ntibantunganya