Burunga : serious accusations against the chairperson of the CEPI by the opposition

Opposition parties in Burundi, with Uprona at the forefront, denounce what they describe as the unworthy behavior of the chairperson of the Independent Provincial Electoral Commission (CEPI) in the new province of Burunga, in south Burundi. Philemon Nahabandi, chairperson of this institution, is accused of manipulating collegial reports emanating from members of the commission. According to the Uprona, the latter is said to be a regular user of fraudulent practices, a behavior that had already led to his arrest in 2015 for electoral fraud.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

The current tensions originate from the lists of district councilors for the district of Bururi and Musongati. According to the information gathered, these lists had been approved collegially by members of the CEPI of Burunga. However, to their great surprise, members of the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) informed the Uprona that its lists in these two districts had finally been rejected.

“Philemon Nahabandi added an annex report to justify the rejection of the Uprona lists in the districts of Musongati and Bururi,” a member of the CEPI, who requested anonymity, told SOS Médias Burundi.

According to this testimony, the chairperson allegedly invoked irregularities on the two lists in question. However, the college of members of the CEPI had initially proposed a solution : replacing three candidates on the list of incumbents with their respective substitutes. This alternative would have made it possible to validate the lists without compromising their integrity.

A controversial past

For the opposition, these actions are part of a series of dubious electoral practices. Philemon Nahabandi is accused of having rigged national identity cards in favor of pupils at the Nyange district high school, in the district of Makamba, where he worked as director in 2015. These facts led to his arrest at that time.

Despite this past, he was appointed chairperson of the CEPI in the province of Makamba, a decision that had already sparked indignation among opposition parties. The latter have always denounced his alleged links with the CNDD-FDD, the ruling party. In addition, his membership in the Church of Pentecost is sometimes perceived as a politicized element in the local context.

Calls for vigilance from the CENI

Faced with these new accusations, the opposition is urging the Independent National Electoral Commission to closely monitor Nahabandi’s actions. For its, it is essential to guarantee the integrity of electoral processes and to prevent similar practices from happening again.

Uprona and other political parties are therefore calling for firm action from higher authorities to avoid any manipulation that could undermine the credibility of upcoming elections.

This case brings to light challenges faced by the Burundian electoral system, where partiality suspicions and fraud continue to turn fragile the trust of citizens and political actors.

——-

A man in a polling station set up by the CENI in Burundi (SOS Médias Burundi)