CENI president in Burundi's first pluralist elections dies unexpectedly

09 Mai 2020

Bujumbura, Burundi, May 9  (Infosplusgabon) - The president of the Burundi Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) in the first pluralist elections of 1993, Terence Sinunguruza, died suddenly at the age of 61, on Friday at his home in Bujumbura,  a source close to the bereaved family said.

Public opinion remembers the memory of a man of integrity who resisted pressures from his own party, the Unity for National Progress (UPRONA), which was annoyed by the surprise victory of the Front for Democracy in Burundi (FRODEBU) in these first pluralist elections.

The winner of that election was physically eliminated in an attempted military coup after just three months in office.

To thank him, President Ndadaye appointed Mr. Sinunguruza to the prestigious post of Ambassador of Burundi to the United Nations (UN) in New York.

As fate would have it, the former president of the CENI died on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the pluralist ballot.

His disappearance also coincides with the recent reopening of court records against four senior retired military personnel for their alleged role as sponsors of the assassination of the late President Ndadaye.

A graduate of the Faculty of Law at the Bujumbura Public University, Mr. Sininguruza took his first professional steps in the judiciary as vice president of the Supreme Court in the 1980s.

In 1994, the brilliant magistrate was then appointed Minister of Institutional Reforms and Relations with the National Assembly.

From 1997 to 2001, he took command of the Ministry of Justice and Keeper of the Seals, before being promoted to head of Burundian diplomacy from 2001 to 2005.

In 2010, he was made the First Vice-President of the Republic, his last official public function for a man who lived a quiet life thereafter, according to his relatives.

Térence Sinunguruza left behind a widow and four children.

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/VVG/GABON2020

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