Burundi buries former president Pierre Nkurunziza

Pierre Nkurunziza's coffin during his funeral at the Gitega stadium, Burundi, June 26, 2020. TCHANDROU NITANGA / AFP

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The national funeral of President Nkurunziza took place this Friday morning in Karousi, in central Burundi. The former head of state died on June 8, at the age of 55 and possibly of the Covid-19. His remains were then transported for 60 kilometers to Gitega where his successor paid him vibrant homage.

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The mortuary convoy arrived at midday at the Ingoma stadium in Gitega, where it was entitled to military honors. His coffin, mounted on a military command jeep and surrounded by several generals marching, walked around a stadium filled with guests dressed in white. A slow march accompanied by religious songs, tears and cries of pain, some people even passed out and were evacuated by Burundi Red Cross agents.

Throughout the stadium, no social distancing and very few masks in a country where the Covid-19 circulates. Concordant sources also assure that ex-president Nkurunziza would have died from this disease.

The loss of his "  beloved  "

Many tributes have been paid to the former head of state. The first to speak was the new Burundian president Évariste Ndayishimiye , Nkurunziza's brother in arms during the years of civil war. Sobs in his voice, he declared that Burundi had "  lost a father, a friend, a savior and a head of state without having had time to accompany him  ". He multiplied the superlatives, explaining that if God "  had given us the choice, it was not you who would have left  ".

The widow of the deceased said she was afflicted by the loss of her "  beloved  ", but Denise Bucumi, pastor in an evangelical church, also assured that "  God taught me to say thank you in everything, I did and it gave me the strength to hold on  ”.

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  • Burundi
  • Pierre Nkurunziza
  • Evariste Ndayishimiye

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