Sylvie Kinigi, the only female Head-of-State and Burundian true leader

Extracts form 'Historical Dictionary of Burundi' of Ellen K. Eggers

video source: AWLN AWLN YouTube channel

“Sylvie Kinigi was born in 1952, at Mugoyi in Burundi. She got married to Firmin Kinigi, in 1973 and lost him exactly 20 years after (in 1993). To 27th, October 1993 to 5th, February 1994 (day known in Burundi as the Unity day) she was the President of Republic while the country was undergoing of political tension. While she was herself bereaved, from her came many economic reforms. We dedicate her, this sheet to thank her and acknowledge that she was definitely a gift for our country.” From Zerà Redaction Team

After the first democratic election in June 1993, which voted in the first Hutu president, Kinigi (a Tutsi married to a Hutu) was appointed prime minister. She lived through the original violence in October of that year, being granted asylum at the French embassy. At that time, she said, “It’s very difficult to say who has power now. The army does not seem to want to lose it. I have no military, no police force, and no control of the media. I have nothing.”

She said she believed that the coup leaders panicked when they realized they were faced with a popular uprising by Burundians who had overwhelmingly voted for President Melchior Ndadaye. Kinigi reported that 60 percent of the army was still loyal to her and that the 76 • KEVVI 06-368_2_A-M.qxd 8/29/06 6:00 AM Page 76coup had been organized by officers mainly from Bururi Province.

She also appealed for international military intervention, saying that there was no guarantee of the security of civilian governments at that stage and that she could not “approve of my government entering into negotiations with people who assassinated our leaders.” Several days after the attempted coup, Kinigi took control of the country again and ordered troops back to the barracks, promising to punish those taking part in the coup.

Several months later, in April 1994, following the death of Burundi’s next president along with the president of Rwanda, Kinigi declared, “There is now an open war between the army and these Hutu mercenaries [Hutu militants were arming peasants in the countryside].”

She reported that the only hope was that Burundians would become exhausted by the fighting. She, like many moderate residents of the country, also saw the problems of 1993 and 1994 as resulting from democracy being thrust on the country too abruptly: “We entered into democracy without having the means of dealing with it. The process was too rapid. There was no time to form political leaders.  So parties formed on the simple criteria of ethnicity. With Rwanda, we have in common inexperience in democracy and ineptness in managing power.”