Country Profile
Burundi officially the Republic of Burundi is a landlocked Country in Eastern Africa.
Burundi is divided into 17 Provinces,117 Communes and 2638 Collines (hills)
Capital Bujumbura
Currency Burundi Franc
Official Language Kirundi and French
Population 10.2 Million(2011 Estimate)
Ethnic Groups 85% Hutu and 15% Tutsi
History
After its defeat in World War I,Germany handed control of a section of the former German East Africa to Belgium. On Octr 20, 1924, this land, which consisted of modern-day Rwanda and Burundi, became a Belgian League of Nations Mandate Territory, in practical terms part of the Belgian Colonial Empire known as Ruanda-Urundi. However, the Belgians allowed Ruanda-Urundi to continue its Kingship Dynasty.
Following World War II, Ruanda-Urundi was a United Nations Trust Territory under Belgian administrative authority.During the 1940s, a series of policies caused divisions throughout the country. On October 4, 1943, powers were split in the legislative division of Burundi's government between chiefdoms and lower chiefdoms. Chiefdoms were in charge of land, and lower sub-chiefdoms were established. Native authorities also had powers.These factions would be one of the main influences for Burundi's independence from Belgium.
In January 1959, Burundi's Ruler Mwami Mwambutsa IV requested from the Belgian Minister of Colonies a separation of Burundi and Rwanda and a dissolution of Ruanda-Urundi. Six months later, political parties were formed to bring attention to Burundi's independence from Europe and to separate Rwanda from Burundi.The first of these political parties was the Union for National Progress (UPRONA).
In November 1959, Rwandese Hutu attacked the Tutsi and massacred them by the thousands. Many Tutsi escaped to Uganda and Burundi to find freedom from persecution.The Hutu took power in Rwanda by winning Belgian-run elections in 1960.
The UPRONA, a multi-ethnic unity party led by Prince Louis Rwagasore and the Christian Democratic Party (PDC) became the most prominent organizations throughout Burundi-Urundi. After UPRONA's victory in legislative elections, Prince Rwagasore was assassinated on October 13 in 1961, allegedly with the help of the Belgian colonial administration.
The country claimed independence on July 1, 1962, and legally changed its name from Ruanda-Urundi to Burundi.Mwami Mwambutsa IV was named King.Upon Burundi’s independence, a constitutional monarchy was established and both Hutus and Tutsis were represented in Parliament.
When King Mwambutsa appointed a Tutsi prime minister, the Hutus, who were the majority in parliament, felt cheated. An ensuing attempted coup by the Hutu-dominated police was ruthlessly suppressed by the Army, then led by a Tutsi officer, Captain Michel Micombero.
When the Hutu Prime Minister, Pierre Ngendandumwe, was assassinated in 1965, Hutus engaged in a series of attacks on Tutsi, which the government repressed ruthlessly.The Burundi police and military were now brought under the control of the Tutsi.
King Mwami Mwambutsa IV was deposed in 1966 by his son,Prince Nrare V who claimed the throne. That same year, Tutsi Prime Minister Captain Michel Micombero deposed Ntare, abolished the monarchy, and declared the nation a republic, though it was in effect a military regime.
In 1972, an all Hutu organization known as Umugambwe w'Abakozi b'Uburundi or Burundi Workers' Party (UBU) organized and carried out systematic attacks on ethnic Tutsi with the declared intent of annihilating the whole group. The military regime responded with large-scale reprisals targeting Hutus. The total number of casualties was never established, but estimates for the Tutsi genocide and the reprisals on the Hutus together are said to exceed 100,000 at the very least, with a similar number of asylum-seekers in Tanzania and Rwanda.
In 1976,Tutsi, Colonel Jean Baptiste Bagaza led a bloodless coup and promoted various reforms. A new constitution was promulgated in 1981, keeping Burundi a one-party state.In August 1984, Bagaza was elected Head of State and during his tenure, Bagaza suppressed political opponents and religious freedoms.
In 1987, Major Pierre Buyoya, a Tutsi, overthrew Bagaza and suspended the constitution, dissolved the political parties, and reinstated military rule under the Military Committee for National Salvation (CSMN)
In June 1993, Melchior Ndadaye, leader of the Hutu-dominated Front for Democracy in Burundi
(FRODEBU), won the first democratic election and became the first Hutu head of state, leading a pro-Hutu government. However, in October 1993, Tutsi soldiers assassinated Ndadaye, which started further years of violence between Hutus and Tutsis. It is estimated that some 300,000 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the years following the assassination.
In early 1994, the parliament elected Cyprien Nrarymira , also a Hutu, to the office of president. He and the president of Rwanda both died together when the airplane was shot down.
In October 1994, Parliament Speaker Sylvestre Ntibantunganya was appointed as President.Within months, a wave of ethnic violence began, starting with the massacre of Hutu refugees in the capital, Bujumbura, and the withdrawal of the mainly Tutsi Union for National Progress from the government and parliament.
In 1996,Pierre Buyoya, a Tutsi, took power through a coup d'etat. He suspended the constitution and was sworn in as President in 1998.Under his rule, long peace talks started, mediated by South Africa and a
cease-fire was signed in 2003 between the Tutsi-controlled Burundian government and the largest Hutu rebel group, CNDD-FDD (National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy)
In 2003, FRODEBU Hutu leader Domitien Ndayizeye was elected President.
In 2005,Pierre Nkurunziza, once a leader of a Hutu Rebel Group, was elected as President.
Government
Burundi is a Presidential Representative Democratic Republic,whereby thePresident os both Head of State and Head of Govt.and of a Multi Party System. The President is elected by the people who nominates two Vice-Presidents, who form together with the Council of Ministers the executive branch.
Executive Power is exercised by the government.
President of Burundi
Pierre Nkurunziza(Chairman of the National Council for the Defenseof Democracy Forces for the denfense of Democracy(CNDD-FDD) is the current President of Burundi in office from Aug 26,2005
National Assembly of Burundi
Legislative Power is vested in both the Govt. and the Bi-Cameral Parliament - the Senate which has 49 members, elected for a five year term and the National Assembly which has 118 members, elected for a five year term by Proportional Representation.
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