Burundi : the corpse of former president Pierre Buyoya repatriated in simplicity

The body of former Burundian president Pierre Buyoya was repatriated on Tuesday evening. No honors from a former head of state or public authorities to receive him at Bujumbura airport as was the case for his predecessor Colonel Jean Baptiste Bagaza, who died in Belgium in 2016. His family members are resigned to “stricter family privacy” for his reburial.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

Pierre Buyoya could not have had the honors he gave himself during his lifetime.

In the same way, his funeral procession took the RN7 (National Road number 7) passing through Ijenda to head modestly, in the strictest family privacy, to the family land located in Rutovu, his native district, in the province of Bururi. in the south of the country. Very few people were there according to our sources.

Died at the age of 71 from Covid-19 in December 2020, Major Buyoya was buried in Mali, several thousand kilometers away from Burundi, the country where he resided as High Representative of the African Union for Mali and Sahel.

He was taken home on board an Ethiopian Airlines jet.

The remains arrived in Bujumbura on Tuesday, according to his family. “There were no officials (at the airport) because it was an operation organized by the family. But Burundian authorities have taken all administrative and security measures,” a member of his family told SOS Médias Burundi on Wednesday morning.

It therefore took four years of “negotiations and repentance” to lead to this event highly praised by his family, especially since “he had been temporarily buried”.

“In order to respect the last wishes of the deceased, the family requested and obtained authorization from Burundian authorities to repatriate and rebury his remains in his native country,” say his relatives.

Even if the honors worthy of a former president have not been granted to him, the Buyoya family has reason to rejoice.

“The Buyoya family expresses its deep gratitude to His Excellency President Évariste Ndayishimiye and to Burundian authorities who allowed the deceased’s wish to rest in his native land to be justified. The family will be eternally grateful to Malian authorities and the great people of Mali for welcoming and adopting President Buyoya as one of their own, both during his lifetime and after his death,” his family wrote in a statement.

Reaction from UPRONA, Buyoya’s party

UPRONA, a party that former President Pierre Buyoya led for a decade and on whose behalf he led the country, is also pleased. For Olivier Nkurunziza, chairperson of this party, better late than never.

“It’s really a great satisfaction for us because he was buried far from his loved ones, his family and his neighbors who had not had the opportunity for a farewell worthy of a former head of state,” he reacted freshly, adding that “it is an honor because he is buried in his native land for the memory of Burundians he led”.

Major Buyoya fell from grace in 2015 after contesting another term of former President Pierre Nkurunziza.

A twist of fate, the “two Pierres who do not love each other died in the same year, 2020, Pierre Hutu (Nkurunziza) slightly before Pierre Tutsi (Buyoya)”.

A case on the assassination of Buyoya’s successor, Melchior Ndadaye, was then resurrected. Buyoya was sentenced in October 2020 in absentia in Burundi, with around twenty former senior civilian and military officials who were close to him, for the assassination, in 1993, of Ndadaye, the first democratically elected Hutu president.

Pierre Buyoya, former president of Burundi reburied in his native village in
Mutangaro in the south of the country on July 17, 2024 (SOS Médias Burundi)

The UPRONA party finds that political misunderstandings do not erase the Major’s achievements.

“He should benefit from the honors of a former president because he worked for the country. We owe him the multiparty system, the Charter of National Unity, the return of peace and security with the Arusha Agreement, the ceasefire and the cessation of hostilities and even the ruling CNDD-FDD party took the opportunity to establish itself,” explains Olivier Nkurunziza.

And he added, “We could refuse his honors but his assets speak more and are undeniable, we cannot deny that he was head of state, president and supreme commander.”

The repatriation of his body, although late, has great significance, according to UPRONA.

“It is an act of unity, reconciliation and restraint. We are grateful to the government and the President of the Republic who allowed this. Future generations will one day be able to honor his grave, why not erect it as a historic monument!”

UPRONA will always remember Buyoya as a valiant builder.

“Until his last suffering he was a member of the UPRONA, he was its presidential candidate, and therefore the UPRONA will always remember him as a hero and a builder. He left an important national heritage,” says Olivier Nkurunziza.

Buried as returnee

On Wednesday, July 17, 2024, Buyoya’s body was reburied at his home located in Mutangaro village.
According to a resident who participated in the ceremony, the former president’s grave was well decorated by his family. Neighbors were allowed to participate in the reburial. Right after the event started, no other people were allowed access. National Intelligence Service agents were seen at the scene.

“They monitored the slightest movement of people. They were ready to arrest anyone who tried to take images without the family’s authorization,” witnesses report.

The ceremony did not last long.
No government representative came to Mutangaro. The only notable presence is that of Domitien Ndayizeye, former Burundian president who was vice-president of Buyoya during the first transition period between 2000 and 2003.

The final mourning ceremonies are planned for Saturday July 20 in Bujumbura, the commercial capital.

Buyoya died in Paris on December 17 from Covid-19, according to media sources.

He ruled Burundi between 1987 and 1993 and from 1996 to 2003 before ceding power at the end of a transition which culminated in the 2005 elections after the signing of the Arusha Peace Agreement which ended a decade of civil war which claimed more than 300,000 lives, according to the UN.
The man is also the initiator of the Charter of National Unity concluded in 1991 to reconcile Hutus and Tutsis. He also remains the president who allowed the multiparty system in the small East African nation.

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Former President Buyoya’s coffin at the great cathedral of Bamako, December 29, 2020 (photo DR)