AfricaPresseBurundi: Body of former President Pierre Buyoya repatriated

The remains of Pierre Buyoya, who died of Covid-19 in Paris in December 2020, have been repatriated to Burundi for reburial in his home country. He was initially buried in Bamako, Mali, where he served as senior representative to the African Union, and his remains are being transported to Bujumbura following an agreement with the Burundian authorities.

Pierre Buyoya, who served as President of Burundi twice, from 1987 to 1993 and from 1996 to 2003, will be buried in a private burial with his family at his home town, Mount Rutovo. As indicated in a press release issued yesterday evening, the Buyoya family has obtained permission from the Burundi government to return his remains. The body is expected to arrive in Bujumbura in the afternoon and then be taken to Rutovo.

At the time of his death, relations between Buyoya and the Burundi government were strained. Buyoya was serving a life sentence for the assassination of Melchior Ndadaye, the first democratically elected Hutu president, a crime he has always denied involvement in that sparked more than a decade of civil war. Because of these tensions, his family had to temporarily bury him in Bamako about four years ago.

The repatriation can be seen as a conciliatory gesture by President Evariste Ndayishimiye. The first contact between the Buyoya family and President Ndayishimiye took place shortly after he took office. The President even met with Pierre Buyoya’s son Olivier a year after taking office, showing a desire for appeasement.

Despite the repatriation agreement, the Burundian authorities imposed a condition that no official ceremony would be held for the former president, a decision that perhaps still reflects the divisions Pierre Buyoya has created in Burundian society.

Upon arrival in Bujumbura, Pierre Buyoya’s remains will be taken to Rutovou, where he will be reburied in the strictest family privacy.Buyoya’s final journey from Bamako to Bujumbura marks the end of a controversial period and the beginning of a new page in Burundi’s history.