Burundi's President Changes Prime Minister After Coup Threat

On Wednesday, Burundi's Senate and Lower House unanimously appointed Gervais Ndirakobuca as Prime Minister. This was done at the request of President Evariste Ndayishimiye, who warned of a coup plot against him within the week.

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"Do you think an army general can be threatened by saying they will make a coup? Who is that person? Whoever it is should come and, in the name of God, I will defeat him," Ndayishimiye warned at a meeting of officials on Friday, as reported by outlet TRT.

The new prime minister is a police lieutenant and was serving as Interior and Security Minister. Previously, however, he was accused of violating human rights for the repression of the protests that broke out in 2015, when then-President Pierre Nkurunziza tried to run for a third term, contradicting the limit set in the Constitution.

On Wednesday, President Ndayishimiye also fired his chief of staff, General Gabriel Nizigama, who was replaced by Colonel Aloys Sindayihebura, until now in charge of the National Intelligence Service (SNR).

Ndayishimiye came to power in June 2020 through elections called after a heart attack killed President Pierre Nkurunziza, who had ruled this African country since 2005.

Burundi's contemporary political history is plagued by presidential assassinations, coups, ethnic massacres, and a civil war, which left some 300,000 dead between 1993 and 2005.

Recently, Burundi has come under international attention due to natural disasters and epidemics. On Friday, for example, the United Nations allocated US$1 million to help 340,000 people in areas affected by Rift Valley Fever.