With a few weeks to go to handing over power to his successor, retired General Evariste Ndayishimiye, Burundi president Pierre Nkurunziza died in the evening of June 8. The government says he died of a heart attack but several sources suggested Nkurunziza, a coronavirus denialist, probably succumbed to Covid-19, his wife Denise having been flown to Nairobi two weeks ago ill with the virus.
The former rebel leader was a study in contradiction. Early 2015, as his second term drew to a close, he started saying those counting his years in office didn’t know their math. His first term, he argued, didn’t count as he was elected by Parliament. For that, the second term was his first as he was voted for by the people.
The move provoked a coup, which failed, and Burundi fell back into hell in a hand-basket. Later that year, he easily won an election boycotted by the opposition. Nearly 2,000 Burundians are believed to have been killed in the ensuing violence and about 500,000 exiled into neighbouring countries. It was too much for a country just beginning to recover from a brutal civil war of 1993 to 2005, in which up to 300,000 people were killed.
Like many former rebel leaders, Nkurunziza remained unflinching in the carnage and collapsing economy, and pressed on with a referendum in May 2018 to extend his rule. Among other things, the constitutional changes increased the presidential term from five to seven years, though with a two-term limit. They also allowed Nkurunziza to vie for re-election despite having served three terms.
Nkurunziza and his wife Denise were a very prayerful couple and often gathered national leaders for all-night prayers at State House.
“Her Excellency Reverend Pastor Denise Nkurunziza” became the first First Lady in Africa (possibly the world) to be ordained a minister while in the Big House.
It’s possible a vision appeared to Nkurunziza and told him to leave power; we will never know. Anyway, he started making noises about stepping down in 2020. Few believed him.
Meanwhile, Nkurunziza was himself. He spent more time in his village, promoting the growing of avocado and tilling gardens with peasants. Snotty urbanites nicknamed him “Avocado Man”, but it seemed to have endeared him to a predominantly rural population. He carried on, travelling upcountry, kneeling with farmers in their gardens, and with beans and potatoes in hand, thanking the Lord for His bounty.
He loved tracksuits, and to ride around on a bicycle, but his passion was football. In one infamous match, he had officials playing in the opposing team jailed for tackling him zealously. In 2017, he banned women from beating the royal drums.
After 2015, Nkurunziza became extremely inward-looking, much like Tanzanian President John Magufuli. Yet there was another side to him. In 2007, he sent Burundi troops to join the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom), a few weeks after Uganda became the first country to deploy its forces into that furnace. The average salary of a Burundi private was $20 (Sh2,000) a month. In Somalia, he would earn more than 35 times that. A whole new Burundian military-politico middle class grew out of the peacekeeping.
As other funding sources dried up, the patronage from Amisom became ever more important for Nkurunziza. Some years ago, he came to speak at a conference I was at attending in Bujumbura. Grateful government officials from Mogadishu were in the house too. At the end, he walked off to a side meeting room with the Somalis. A Burundian securocrat I’ve known for long whispered to me that “they have chased away the interpreters”. The Somalis spoke Somali, Arab and English. Nkurunziza spoke Kirundi, French and Kiswahili. Apparently, they emerged smiling, a lot of sign language in play. My friend told me the Somalis had brought for Nkurunziza “war tributes in a fat suitcase. That one doesn’t need interpreters”.
Another story is told of the period before 2015, before relations between Bujumbura and Kigali soured. Nkurunziza and President Paul Kagame were good friends. One time, one of those rich Western figures who tend to hang out in Kigali was requested by Kagame to go and visit with his friend Nkurunziza and see how they could help them, especially in education and health. Kagame gave him his private jet, and off he went.
He looked flummoxed upon his return. In a meeting with Kagame, he leaned over and virtually whispered into his ear that Nkurunziza wasn’t interested in education or health. He had only made a humble request for a few tracksuits and footballs.
Early this year, Burundi’s ruling class bestowed on Nkurunziza the title of “Eternal Supreme Guide”. With his death at the relatively tender age of 55, perhaps few things would be more discordant. May his soul rest in peace.
Mr Onyango-Obbo is a journalist, writer and curator of the Wall of Great Africans. @cobbo3
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