Former President of Burundi Pierre Buyoya is dead. Multiple sources from inside the country indicate that Buyoya died on Thursday. The cause of his death is unknown. He was 71.
Buyoya led Burundi twice from 1987 to 1993, and from 1996 to 2003. Three weeks ago, he resigned as the special envoy of the African Union in Mali and the Sahel region. He said he quit to clear his name of alleged involvement in the murder of his successor.
Buyoya was convicted in absentia in his native Burundi for the 1993 assassination of then president Melchior Ndadaye.
Ndadaye was assassinated in 1993 four months after winning the election against Buyoya.
Buyoya has maintained that the trial was conducted “in violation of the Arusha Accords” and was neither “fair” nor “equitable” as the rights of the defence were allegedly violated.
By the time of filing this report, the government of Burundi had not issued any statement.
