Nkurunziza defends a unifying national memory in Burundi
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Iwacu
Olivier Nkurunziza believes commemorations of the assassinations of Prince Louis Rwagasore on 13 October and President Melchior Ndadaye on 21 October must remain unifying in Burundi. He warns against partisan management of national memory and contests any change to Ndadaye’s resting place, according to Iwacu.
The commemorations of the assassination of Prince Louis Rwagasore, on 13 October, and that of President Melchior Ndadaye, on 21 October, must remain national and unifying occasions in Burundi, Nkurunziza said, according to Iwacu. He believes that the decline in enthusiasm observed in recent years is due more to the organisation of certain national celebrations than to Burundians’ lack of interest in their heroes and history.
According to Nkurunziza, Louis Rwagasore and Melchior Ndadaye now belong to the Burundian nation as a whole. The former is presented as a historic figure of the country and the latter as a hero of democracy, according to Iwacu.
