An uneasy alliance
Who holds the power in Burundi?
The end of brought dramatic political changes to Burundi. President Évariste Ndayishimiye flexed his political muscle and did what was unthinkable: remove the once powerful Prime Minister Alain Guillaume Bunyoni.
The Burundi Human Rights Initiative’s new report, “An uneasy alliance: who holds the power in Burundi?”, analyses the relationship between influential figures in the ruling party, the CNDD-FDD, and their attempts to consolidate power. The report documents the training of members of the CNDD-FDD youth league, the Imbonerakure, and the intimidation and ill-treatment of members of opposition parties by Imbonerakure, as well as by government and CNDD-FDD officials.
The removal of Bunyoni may have realigned the balance of power in favour of President Ndayishimiye, but this new dynamic could be temporary. Révérien Ndikuriyo, the secretary general of the CNDD-FDD and a leading hardliner, continues to flaunt his allegiance to former President Pierre Nkurunziza, implicitly challenging Ndayishimiye and undermining his promised reforms.
In , Ndikuriyo organised the training of thousands of Imbonerakure in “patriotism” and gave fiery speeches during some of the closing ceremonies. He also spearheaded a separate training for more than 200 Imbonerakure in Makamba province, with a view to sending them abroad to work in the private security sector, allegedly in the Middle East.
Despite its internal rifts, the CNDD-FDD seems united on one thing: its desire to win the legislative elections in and the presidential elections in at all costs. Ndikuriyo told Imbonerakure to recruit opposition party members to join the CNDD-FDD by . He said that after that, the CNDD-FDD would move to the next stage, and it would no longer be possible for them to join. Imbonerakure have threatened political opponents with physical harm or even death if they refuse to join the CNDD-FDD.
There has been much speculation about the future of Ndikuriyo, who is believed to have been in Bunyoni’s camp. Ndikuriyo appeared to be in the ascendancy during most of and despite rumours of changes in the party leadership, the CNDD-FDD congress on did not remove him from his position. Nevertheless, President Ndayishimiye may try to clip Ndikuriyo’s wings in the near future if he threatens his reformist agenda. Given Ndikuriyo’s popularity among Imbonerakure, the consequences of such a move are unpredictable and could lead to further turmoil in .
The report is available in English and French. An audio summary of the report is available in Kirundi.