On October 21, 2020, Burundi commemorates the 27th anniversary since the assassination of former President Melchior Ndadaye in the 1993 coup d’état led by his predecessor Pierre Buyoya.

The official ceremonies began with a requiem mass celebrated in the Parish of Saint Michael which the Presidential Couple, country’s High Authorities, Members of the Diplomatic and Consular Corps, as well as the family of the Hero of Democracy took part in.

During his homily, Bishop Banshimiyubusa Gervais recalled that His Excellency Melchior Ndadaye was the first democratically elected Burundian President even though he did not get enough time to realize all the projects to which the majority of Burundians had adhered. Bishop Banshimiyubusa praised God for the life and the sacrifice made by President Ndadaye who put Burundi on the rails of democracy.

He urged all Burundians to put their lives at “the service of God and the Nation because one day we will all have to be accountable to God.”

After the Requiem Mass, the ceremonies continued at the Mausoleum of the Hero of Democracy, with the laying of wreaths and a moment of meditation.

The commemoration comes after the court ruling on October 19, 2020 handed a life imprisonment of Major Pierre Buyoya and his collaborators for the assassination of the late President Melchior Ndadaye.
Pierre Buyoya is currently working for the African Union in Mali.