Burundi’s Power Vacuum will last ‘a few days’

A spokesperson for the Burundian government has announced that the “power vacancy” left behind by late President Pierre Nkurunziza will take “a few days” to fill.

President Pierre Nkurunziza died on Monday after suffering cardiac arrest, although it is thought that his death may be linked to coronavirus.

Speculation as to the nature of his death has increased as his mother was rumoured to have also died this week.

Government spokesperson, Prosper Ntahorwamiye has flatly denied these claims, however, saying that Nkurunziza's mother “is sick but not dead”.

Fears over the health of Mr Nkurunziza’s wife have been somewhat abated as she was flown back from Nairobi, Kenya where she had been hospitalised for the last two weeks.

Mr Ntahorwamiye said that the government is still "consulting the constitutional court" on the successor of Pierre Nkurunziza.

The former president left behind a highly controversial legacy once applauded internationally for his peacekeeping efforts but now is accused on multiple accounts by the UN of human rights abuses.

The now-exiled Burundi human rights group, Ligue Iteka, reported that between January and March of this year Nkurunziza oversaw 67 killings, 6 disappearances, 15 cases of gender-based violence, 23 cases of torture and 204 arbitrary arrests.

President Nkurunziza had intended to step down at the end of August. How far he would have actually stepped away from politics and the running of day-to-day affairs is unclear, however, as he was to become Burundi’s “supreme guide”.

Whether Burundi can forge a new style of politics or will simply continue his autocratic legacy is yet to be seen.

Photo:Reuters