Nkurunziza’s legacy: A country too proud to ask for needed help
Supporters of Burundi’s ruling CNDD-FDD party gather during their last campaign for the referendum for a constitutional amendment in Bujumbura on May 14, 2018. PHOTO | AFP
At every opportunity, Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza rallies his country of 11.8 million people around the notion that, despite increased isolation by donors and the international community, the government continues running its affairs uninterrupted.
July 2 was no different as the country marked Independence Day, from of Belgium in 1962. President Nkurunziza said key installations would be named after senior Hutu politicians, including his advisor who was killed during a coup attempt in 2015, disenfranchising the minority Tutsi, in a country where tribal animosities have fuelled political instability since Independence.
