Pierre Nkurunziza is the current President of Burundi. He was the leader of the Hutu rebel outfit; Forces for the Defense of Democracy (FDD) who battled the Tutsi dominated government army in 2001.
Elected in 2005, Pierre Nkurunziza is the first and only President of Burundi after the Country’s civil war which divided Burundi along ethnic lines.
His election was done by the Burundi’s Parliament as part of the 2000 Arusha Peace Deal that ended Burundi ethnic war.
Born on December 18, 1963 Nkurunziza’s father was a Hutu and his mother, a Tutsi. His father and five siblings died during the civil wars.
Nkurunziza is expected to hand over power in May, however, they are fears from Opposition camps that he was just stepping back but was not going away. Burundi’s ruling CNDD-FDD has already chosen its candidate for the country’s upcoming presidential election.
According to Independent sources Nkurunziza’s 15 years of Presidency has been characterized by allegation of human right abuses, lack of press freedom and a clampdown on critics and opposition.
Here are Top 7 Famous quotes of Pierre Nkurunziza
1. We should know that the degradation of a nation always comes from division, which results in the loss of the country’s reputation.
2. The government gives one month to those who illegally possess arms to hand them over, beyond this period, whoever is caught with arms will be punished.
3. Every time Burundians sat together, they found lasting solutions to the problems which opposed them
4. We ask every Burundian, in hills and the capital, to stay united.
5. We cannot stop the peaceful and patient aspiration of a people who wish to answer the glaring questions of a painful past.
6. We cannot build a solid and united Burundi without looking collectively at our respective wounds.
7. Whether they are fabricated or real, the questions of the present must never make us forget the silences of the past.