Two soldiers shown by the government : controversial “confessions”

SOS Médias Burundi

Bujumbura, September 3, 2026—Two soldiers were presented to the press on Tuesday by Pierre Nkurikiye, spokesperson for the Ministry of Security. Authorities accuse them of collaborating with journalist Bob Rugurika in a plot to recruit soldiers to join a rebellion and overthrow the government. However, the circumstances of their arrest, their transfer to the National Intelligence Service (SNR), and the evolving nature of the accusations raise several questions.

The two men presented are Chief Warrant Officer Désiré Ndikumasabo and Jean-Marie Manirambona, a retired corporal of less than a year, according to his own statements.

Both were arrested on August 25 along with four other people, including three soldiers and a police officer. The six men were arrested by police officers accompanied by members of the youth wing of the CNDD-FDD, the ruling party, commonly known as the Imbonerakure, near a place known as “Chez Rukara” in the Buterere zone, north of the commercial capital.

They were suspected of holding a clandestine meeting.

Several leads during initial interrogations

According to information gathered by SOS Médias Burundi, the six men were questioned on several topics during their initial interrogations.

Investigators questioned them, in particular, about their communications or possible collaboration with Bob Rugurika, director of African Public Radio (RPA), as well as with Pacifique Nininahazwe, president of the Forum for Conscience and Development (FOCODE), and about their possible links to armed groups.

Three soldiers and the police officer were eventually released.

Désiré Ndikumasabo and Jean-Marie Manirambona were transferred on August 27 from the police station in the Ntahangwa district, in northern Bujumbura, to the National Intelligence Service (SNR) headquarters.

On September 1, the two men were presented to the press at the SNR headquarters in Bujumbura.

One week after their arrest, only these two men remained in detention and were publicly displayed.

Why were the six people arrested on August 25 questioned along the same lines, only to have two of them remain in detention? What evidence led investigators to pursue the charges against Ndikumasabo and Manirambona? And why was Pacifique Nininahazwe’s name, mentioned during the initial interrogations, so rarely mentioned during the public presentation?

These are all questions to which the authorities have not provided any public explanations.

Confessions focused on Bob Rugurika

During the presentation, Pierre Nkurikiye primarily emphasized the Bob Rugurika connection.

Désiré Ndikumasabo stated that he had telephone contact with the journalist. According to his public testimony, Rugurika asked him to help recruit other soldiers.

Ndikumasabo also claimed to have received 500,000 Burundian francs, and then another 300,000 francs later, as part of this alleged collaboration.

He stated that the objective was to overthrow the institutions and apologized to his superiors for not informing them of these contacts.

The authorities also claim that the two men allegedly disseminated false information concerning between 25 and 30 soldiers, as well as several routes in southern Burundi.

These claims, however, are based, at this stage, on the accusations made by the authorities and the public statements of the two men. These documents alone do not constitute legal proof of their guilt.

Documents that have not been shown

Police sources also claim that documents were found in Jean-Marie Manirambona’s bag, including notebooks containing information that allegedly refers to collaboration with rebel groups.

These documents have not, however, been publicly presented to the press.

Manirambona is a former soldier. He himself stated that he left active service less than a year ago.

SOS Médias Burundi has also received information concerning the past of one of the two detainees, indicating possible collaboration with Burundian intelligence services and his alleged involvement in certain operations. These elements are currently being verified and cannot, at this stage, be presented as established facts.

A soldier trained in drone operation

Désiré Ndikumasabo had previously been part of a group of Burundian soldiers who received drone training in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Following his arrest, relatives denounced what they consider a setup against him and expressed their concerns on circumstances of his detention.

Bob Rugurika, journalist in exile since 2015

Bob Rugurika heads the African Public Radio (RPA), one of Burundi’s most influential independent media outlets before the 2015 crisis.

He has been living in exile since the attempted coup in May 2015. In the wake of this crisis, several independent media outlets were attacked and destroyed. RPA was among the hardest hit.

Rugurika is wanted by Burundian authorities in several cases.

The journalist categorically rejects the accusations against him in this new case. He denounces a “grotesque fabrication” and a plot intended, according to him, to discredit him. He points out several contradictions in the statements of the two soldiers.

The silence surrounding Nininahazwe

Pacifique Nininahazwe’s name appears in another aspect of this case.

Nininahazwe, president of FOCODE, is known for his work documenting human rights violations in Burundi, particularly through the Ndondeza program, which focuses on cases of enforced disappearances.

His name was mentioned during the initial interrogations of the six people arrested on August 25, according to information gathered by SOS Médias Burundi.

Yet, during the public presentation on September 1, the focus was almost exclusively on Bob Rugurika and the accusation of recruiting soldiers to destabilize the institutions.

Why was this line of inquiry not developed publicly? The authorities offered no explanation.

Questions about the conditions of the “confessions”

The public presentation of the two soldiers comes after several days of detention, including several days at the National Intelligence Service (SNR).

Their statements, widely reported by the media, constitute the main public element put forward by the authorities to support the accusations against Bob Rugurika.

But the conditions under which these statements were obtained remain poorly documented publicly. The authorities have not provided details regarding the conditions of their interrogations at the National Intelligence Service (SNR), nor the safeguards they were afforded during this period.

This timeline fuels questions about the nature of these “confessions” and how they were obtained.

Is this a practice that could be repeated?

This is not the first time that Pierre Nkurikiye has presented men to the press claiming they were approached or recruited by activists, journalists, or exiled political figures with the stated aim of destabilizing Burundi.

According to investigations by SOS Médias Burundi, some individuals presented in similar circumstances were ultimately released discreetly. Others disappeared after cooperating with the intelligence services, sometimes even before receiving the promised compensation. Still others ended up fleeing the country, fearing for their safety or facing further prosecution.

In this context, the increasing number of pronouncements by authorities, starting with President Évariste Ndayishimiye, as well as by CNDD-FDD officials, including its Secretary General Révérien Ndikuriyo, regarding the existence of armed groups hostile to Burundi and the “enemies of the country,” raises fears of a proliferation of similar scenes.

The risk is that other individuals will be arrested, interrogated, and then publicly displayed as evidence in destabilization cases, without the circumstances of their arrest, the conditions of their interrogations, or the strength of the accusations being clearly established.

In the case of Ndikumasabo and Manirambona, their presentation at the SNR headquarters after several days of detention also raises the question of their protection. Beyond the accusations against them, the authorities have a responsibility to guarantee their physical integrity, their right to a fair trial, and their protection against any form of pressure or reprisals.

At this stage, no final court decision has established the guilt of the two soldiers or that of Bob Rugurika in this case. The charges will have to be established through an adversarial legal process.