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Pierre Nkurunziza

President of Burundi from 2005 to 2020

Pierre Nkurunziza (18 December 1964 – 8 June 2020) was a Burundian politician who served as the ninth president of Burundi for almost 15 years from August 2005 until his death in June 2020.

A member of the Hutu ethnic group, Nkurunziza taught physical education before becoming involved in politics during the Burundian Civil War as part of the rebel National Council for the Defense of Democracy – Forces for the Defense of Democracy (Conseil National Pour la Défense de la Démocratie – Forces pour la Défense de la Démocratie, CNDD–FDD) of which he became leader in 2000. The CNDD–FDD became a political party at the end of the Civil War and Nkurunziza was elected president. He held the post controversially for three terms, facing bloody opposition, sparking significant public unrest in 2015.

He announced his intention not to stand for re-election in 2020 and instead ceded power to Évariste Ndayishimiye, whose candidacy he had endorsed. He died on 8 June 2020 shortly before the official end of his term. He was the long

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Pierre Nkurunziza, Burundi’s football-loving president and self-proclaimed pastor, has died at the age of 55. By all accounts this was death most cruel. He was soon to hand over power to his handpicked successor, Major General Evariste Ndayishimiye.

Ndayishimiye, the former army major, recently won a controversial election which was reaffirmed by the constitutional court only a few days ago. This would have been the first time in Burundi’s history that power was transferred peacefully from one leader to another, albeit from the same party.

So what does Nkurunziza’s passing mean for the transition process in Burundi? And to Burundi’s regional relationships?

When Burundians look back, some will remember their president as a man who laid the foundation for a belated political transition. Others will see his departure as good riddance. History will judge Nkurunziza as someone who brought unnecessary pain to a nation that had long suffered from political misrule, but who in death bequeathed it a golden opportunity for renewal.

Iron fist

Nkurunziza had been president of Burundi fo

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Obituary: Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza

Burundi’s government has announced the sudden death of President Pierre Nkurunziza, a former rebel leader who took office following a bloody civil war in 2005.

He was 55.

Burundi says President Pierre Nkurunziza has died of heart attack

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In a statement on Tuesday, the government said Nkurunziza had died of heart failure.

It came just weeks before the president was meant to hand over power to political ally Evariste Ndayishimiye, the winner of last month’s presidential election, bringing down the curtain on a 15-year reign whose latter part was marked by political violence and increasing criticism over the government’s response to dissent.

Rebel leader

The former university teacher was born in 1964 in the country’s economic capital, Bujumbura, less than two years after Burundi gained independence from Belgium.

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