Return to Gitega : Bunyoni repatriated in critical condition to the regional hospital

SOS Médias Burundi

Gitega, December 31, 2025 – On Wednesday, December 31, former Prime Minister and strongman of the CNDD-FDD regime, General Alain Guillaume Bunyoni, was returned to the Gitega Regional Hospital after a brief stay in Bujumbura, the commercial capital, where he had been transferred for specialized care. His health remains very concerning and is raising many questions in the country’s political capital.

An impressive convoy for a medical transfer

According to witnesses, the repatriation involved a convoy of four vehicles :

an ambulance transporting Bunyoni and a nurse,

a luxury Jeep V8 for his wife, Hyacinthe Niyonkuru,

a pickup truck from the National Police,

and a double-cab Hilux from the National Intelligence Service (SNR).

Upon his arrival, about twenty police officers had to secure and clean the area before Bunyoni was taken to his so-called “VIP” room, located in the emergency department.

From Gitega to Bujumbura and back : specialized but uncertain care

General Bunyoni had already been transferred to the Gitega Regional Hospital on October 9, 2025, after a sudden deterioration in his health. He was placed in intensive care at that time.

On December 27, 2025, he was transferred to Kira Hospital in Bujumbura, the commercial capital where UN agencies and the central administration are concentrated, providing access to care he could not receive in Gitega.

According to sources close to the case, he suffers from advanced type 2 diabetes and severe hypertension, exacerbated by hemiplegic paralysis and brain damage. He is non-verbal and has difficulty opening his eyes, a consequence of more than two years of solitary confinement in inhumane conditions.

Family pressure and a harsh sentence

His family had recently requested his transfer to a better-equipped facility, notably one with a CT scanner.

As a reminder, Bunyoni was arrested in April 2023 and sentenced in December 2023 to life imprisonment by the Supreme Court of Burundi for :

undermining the State security,

attempting a coup d’état,

illicit enrichment.

Before this medical evacuation, he was serving his sentence at Gitega Central Prison.

Official silence and uncertainty

No official information has been released regarding the progress of his health or the duration of his hospitalization, leaving the country in suspense as to the true severity of his condition.