Rumonge : nearly a hundred pupils subjected to paramilitary training by the CNDD-FDD

Pupils from Rumonge secondary school and neighboring primary schools were summoned on Wednesday to a meeting organized by members of the CNDD-FDD, the former Hutu rebellion that became the ruling party in 2005 thanks to the Arusha agreement of August 2000.

After a session focused on the party’s ideology and the 2025 elections, they were subjected to paramilitary parade training on the school’s football field – an initiative that arouses the indignation of parents, worried about seeing politics interfere in the education system in this southwestern province where abuses against opponents are often reported.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

According to residents living near Rumonge secondary school, the meeting began at 4 p.m. in the school’s main hall. It brought together pupils from the secondary school as well as those from Rukinga 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 primary schools, all located within the same school complex.

This training was intended for pupils from grade 9 to the final year. According to local sources, it was led by Évariste Ntakarutimana, a teacher and representative of the CNDD-FDD youth league on Rukinga hill. Discussions focused on the party’s ideology and legislative and district elections scheduled for 2025.

At the end of the meeting, the pupils were separated by gender and grouped into teams of 50 girls and 50 boys on the high school’s football field. They then began training for the paramilitary parade under the supervision of teachers affiliated with the ruling party. The group of boys was supervised by Évariste Ntakarutimana, while the girls were under the responsibility of teachers who were members of the CNDD-FDD.

Parents’ indignation over the politicization of schools

Many parents of pupils denounce these activities, which they consider to be contrary to the educational mission of the school. They call on the Ministry of National Education and Scientific Research to ban all forms of political mobilization in schools.

“School officials should focus on supervising pupils in order to improve their success, instead of enlisting them in partisan activities,” they deplore. This observation is all the more worrying since the province of Rumonge systematically occupies the last places in national exams and competitions, a sign of an education system already in difficulty.

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Pupils mobilized to participate in a “military” parade on the sidelines of a day dedicated to the Imbonerakure, members of the CNDD-FDD youth league in the commercial city of Bujumbura (SOS Médias Burundi)