BUJUMBURA/MAKAMBA/ KIRUNDO/GITEGA/CIBITOKE, April 8th (ABP) –Burundi commemorated, on Monday 7 April 2025, the 31st anniversary of the assassination of President Cyprien Ntaryamira, who died in 1994 in a plane crash at Kanombe International Airport in Kigali, Rwanda.
The ceremonies at Bujumbura Mayorship, attended by the vice-president, members of the diplomatic and consular corps and various dignitaries from the country, began with a mass celebrated at Regina Mundi cathedral.
The Archbishop of Bujumbura, Mgr Gervais Banshimiyubusa, who read the mass, emphasised the Christian faith of the late President Ntaryamira. He urged Christians to cultivate the truth, separate themselves from evil and be partisans of good, as the late President Ntaryamira wanted. The late president’s vision of society was to re-establish discipline in all sectors of national life, and he wanted full respect for human rights, he stressed.
The ceremonies continued at the Democracy Martyrs’ Square, where wreaths were laid at the tomb of the late president. The Vice-President of the Republic, Prosper Bazombanza, laid the wreaths first, followed by members of the diplomatic corps, the families of the late President Ntaryamira and Sylvestre Ntibantunganya, and political parties including CNDD-FDD, Sahwanya-FRODEBU, UPRONA, CNL, SANGWE-PADER and MSD INKINZO.
The families of the late Bernard Ciza and Cyriaque Simbizi, who were murdered on the same day, also paid their respects by laying wreaths of flowers on their graves.
In Makamba province, the ceremonies began with a mass read by Abbé Justin Hazobazimana. He said that the late Ntaryamira was a man of conviction and fidelity. He asked Burundians to follow his good example.
After laying wreaths of flowers at the monument to national heroes in the provincial capital, the governor of Makamba, Ms Tantine Ncutinamagara, asked the population to be disciplined and take part in all the activities organised to speed up development.
In Kirundo province, the ceremonies began with a mass celebrated in the Kanyinya parish, according to local sources. The parish priest, Jean Baptiste Bigirimana, emphasised that discipline is the driving force behind the country’s development. He asked the administrative and administrative staff to follow in the footsteps of President Cyprien Ntaryamira, who wanted the people of Burundi to be disciplined in all their activities. That is the basis of the country’s prosperity. After the mass, wreaths were laid at the independence monument by representatives of the administration, the judiciary, the security forces and the political parties, namely CNDD-FDD, UPRONA, FRODEBU, FNL and APDR. The ceremonies ended with a speech by President Cyprien Ntaryamira, delivered at his inauguration.
The ceremonies were attended by the governor of Kirundo province, Victor Segasago, provincial department heads, commune administrators, representatives of religious denominations and political parties.
Gitega province (in the center of the country) was not to be outdone. The ceremonies, which took place at the monument to national unity, were presided over by the provincial governor, Mr Venant Manirambona. The ceremonies were attended by leading figures from the public and private sectors, residents of the urban centre of Gitega and local schoolchildren. The ceremony began with an ecumenical prayer led by the representative of the Catholic Church, the representative of the Protestant churches and the representative of the Islamic community. That was followed by the laying of floral wreaths, notably by the provincial governor, the local administrator and representatives of the political parties CNDD-FDD, FRODEBU, UPRONA, CNL, ADR and APDR-Abanyamahoro. The keynote address was the speech given by the late President Ntaryamira at his inauguration. That speech focused on the return of discipline in all sectors of national life, which had fallen into decline following the insecurity that prevailed after the assassination of the late President Ndadaye in October 1993.
In Cibitoke province, under the aegis of the provincial governor, Carême Bizoza, the ceremonies were well attended by civil servants and students. They began with a wreath-laying ceremony at the monument dedicated to that illustrious deceased on the Bujumbura-Rugombo Road. Three political parties, namely CNDD-FDD, FRODEBU and UPRONA, as well as the women’s forum and the youth forum, laid wreaths. The ceremonies ended with a speech full of advice, calling for order and discipline, delivered by the late President Ntaryamira on his inauguration as President of the Republic.
In Ngozi province, the ceremonies began with a mass in his memory celebrated at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. In his homily, Emmanuel Nzeyimana, the parish priest of the Catholic parish of Ngozi, urged the population to pray to the Almighty to enlighten the Burundian authorities, so that they may lead while advocating truth and justice, the sources of peace.
They continued at the monument to national heroes in front of the Ngozi provincial office, where the late President Ntaryamira gave a speech after winning the elections. As he advocated discipline in various sectors of the country’s life, the governor of Ngozi Léonidas Ndaruzaniye invited the people of the province to assess themselves, to see how far they had come in implementing his legacy.