Bunyoni’s close friend who managed his assets seized by the courts arrested

SOS Médias Burundi

Bujumbura, September 1, 2025 – Donatien Mbonicura, originally from Matyazo village in the Mwaro region of Gitega province (central Burundi), was arrested on Sunday, August 24, 2025, in Kinindo, south of Bujumbura, the commercial capital. Considered a close friend of General Alain Guillaume Bunyoni, he discreetly managed several properties belonging to the latter, which were seized by the courts. He is currently held in the National Intelligence Service (SNR) premises.

Donatien Mbonicura was known in circles close to the general as his “commissioner” : he identified houses for acquisition, managed them, arranged for their rental, and collected the rent. He reportedly continued these activities even after his former boss’s arrest and conviction.

Sources close to the case state that Mbonicura is suspected of having continued to collect the rent from several properties without remitting the amounts to the Special Court, as stipulated by the judicial seizure measures.

Arrest in Kinindo and controversial release of a Congolese man

The arrest took place between 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. in Kinindo. Donatien Mbonicura was accompanied at the time by Mumbere Katsuva Papy, a Congolese national who was a tenant of one of the seized houses. According to concordant sources, the latter was released on the instructions of a senior government official, while Mbonicura was transferred to the National Intelligence Service (SNR).

His family, alerted by relatives, confirmed his arrest and is requesting that he be brought to justice if he is found guilty of an offense, and detained in a legally recognized place.

Reminder : General Bunyoni sentenced to a life jail

On June 27, 2024, the Supreme Court of Burundi upheld the life jail sentence imposed on General Alain Guillaume Bunyoni. The former Prime Minister, detained in Gitega Central Prison since July 2023, was also fined 22,713,000,000 Burundi francs.

The Court ordered the confiscation of all his assets not declared beforehand June 3, 2021, a date corresponding to his last official declaration of assets.