BUJUMBURA/GITEGA/KAYANZA, March 5th (ABP) – The CNDD-FDD party organised throughout the country, as usual on 27 February 2025, the last Thursday of the month, an ecumenical prayer of thanksgiving for the benefits it has granted to the Bagumyabanga in particular and to the country in general during that month and to entrust to it the activities of the following month.
At national level, that prayer took place in the political capital, Gitega, in the presence of the Head of State, Mr Evariste Ndayishimiye, the party’s Secretary General, Mr Révérien Ndikuriyo and his wife, the members of the Senate’s bureau, Mr. Emmanuel Sinzohagera, the Senate President , Mrs. Denise Ndadaye and Mr. Fabrice Nkurunziza respectively, the party’s national secretaries, the party’s provincial secretary in Gitega, Mr. Georges Nshimirimana, executives and senior executives, as well as CNDD-FDD members from the new province of Gitega.
The Bagumyabanga thanked the Lord for the convalescence of the party’s Secretary General after a sudden illness.
In his speech, Mr. Ndikuriyo praised God for the grace he had bestowed on him by keeping him alive. He officially thanked the Head of State for his involvement in evacuating him abroad to get proper care in modern hospitals, and for saving his life. He did not forget to thank the Bagumyabanga for their intercession and the fact that they had continued the party’s programme for 100 days, as well as their serenity in that pre-electoral period. He reminded them that in the past, that period was a time of tension for Burundians. According to him, that is a sign of God’s presence in the country.
The President of the Republic of Burundi, who is also Chairman of the Council of Elders of the CNDD-FDD party, referring to the situation that the party’s Secretary General had just gone through, called on the Bagumyabanga to open their eyes and see the greatness of God through his works. “The Secretary General’s health was in extreme danger and the social networks were only amplifying things with the aim of dividing the Bagumyabanga, but God had protected the party”.
The President of the Republic had the opportunity to comment on the rumours of attacks from outside the country that have been circulating in the wake of the war raging in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. He said that many Burundians had shown weakness through excessive fear. According to him, the fact of being afraid is synonymous with questioning the power of God and above all the promise he made to the party in power. “Apart from the military capacity that Burundi has, God is in control, as evidenced by the events of 2015 when the whole world had turned its back on the country,” Ndayishimiye concluded.
In Bujumbura, the ecumenical thanksgiving prayer was presided over by the party’s deputy secretary general, Cyriaque Nshimirimana. He also thanked the Almighty for having answered the prayers of the Bagumyabanga people by giving the party’s secretary general a cure, meaning that February had been a month of blessings for party members and the people of Burundi.
With that in mind, the deputy secretary general of the ruling party asked the Burundians to avoid betrayal and rumours in order to remain in harmony as Burundi prepares for the elections. He also urged them to pray and work towards the vision of a Burundi that will be emerging in 2040 and developed in 2060.
Referring to the book of Genesis, chapter 16, verses 1 to 6, where the Lord promised Abraham to rule the country when he was 99 years old and did not have a child, the preacher of the day, Sheikh Ramadan Ndikumana, pointed out that what God had promised Burundi had already been fulfilled. He explained that during colonisation, the country went through a period of ethnic crisis, but he said that today Burundians are united and live in peace and security.
He advised the leaders and the Bagumyabanga to put God before all their activities and to behave in a dignified manner so as to be role models in the country and in society, before adding that he who trusts in the Lord will never betray him.
In the enlarged commune of Muhanga in the new province of Butanyerera, Bagumyabanga members of the CNDD-FDD party from the communes of Muhanga and Rango gathered in the main town of the commune of Gahombo for a thanksgiving prayer to close the month of February.
Referring to the theme of the month, Pasteur Ezéchiel Nivyayo, the legal representative of the Worship Centre church, urged the Bagumyabanga people to wait for God’s promises by working towards self-development in particular and the development of the whole country in general.
In his speech, the secretary of the CNDD-FDD party in the extended commune of Muhanga, Diomède Manirambona, reminded the audience that in order to develop, one must be visionary and confident. He therefore advised the Bagumyabanga not to be afraid before carrying out any project because, according to him, there must always be obstacles in every project.
He also urged them not to be disorientated by the war that has broken out in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the rumours that are snowballing on social networks. With that in mind, he called on the Bagumyabanga to safeguard peace and security day and night, and to keep a watchful eye on the movements of unknown persons in their respective localities, and on any element likely to undermine security.