Obituary: Cyprien Ntaryamira

Cyprien Ntaryamira, agronomist, politician; born Bujumbura, Ruanda- Urundi (now Burundi) 6 March 1955; Minister of Agriculture, Burundi 1993- 94; President of Burundi 1994; married (three children); died Kigali, Rwanda 6 April 1994.

WHEN the aircraft that was carrying the presidents of both Rwanda and Burundi was brought down by a rocket near the Rwandan capital, Kigali, on Wednesday, Cyprien Ntaryamira became the second leader of Burundi to be killed violently in less than six months.

Like the slain President of Rwanda, Juvenal Habyarimana, Ntaryamira was a Hutu. Although their birthdays are only two days apart, Habyarimana was 57, and a long-established ruler, while Ntaryamira was only 38 and new to politics. Habyarimana was an outstanding soldier who ruled Rwanda through guile and an iron fist gloved in soft words; Ntaryamira, an agronomist, became President on two months ago and found himself leading a country that was being torn apart by ethnic violence.

Although there are many parallels between Rwanda and Burundi, their social and class structures evolved differently. As in Rwanda, the Tutsi established overlordship over the sedentary Hutu majority in the 15th century. However, the Tutsi did not establish the sort of centralised power base in Burundi that they did in Rwanda. The Tutsi were themselves split into various warring factions, each vying for the title of Mwami, or king.

Colonialism under Belgium followed the same pattern as in Rwanda with the Tutsi chiefs acquiring the lion's share of power and land. Belgium preferred to rule Burundi 'indirectly' and mandated the chiefs to raise taxes and employ forced labour. Catholic missions had a more direct influence but they tended to see the Tutsi as 'natural leaders' and provided them with education while only a very small number of the Hutu were given any schooling.

The Belgian administration of the country was remarkable only for its neglect of the masses. This led to increased differences not only along ethnic lines but also between different classes. General resentment against wealthy landlords united both Hutu and Tutsi peasants.

In turn, the powerful Bezi aristocracy began to chafe under Belgian rule and discovered that they could turn the resentment of the masses against the colonial rulers. Prince Louis Rwagasore, as leader of the Union for National Progress (UPRONA), emerged as the first significant national leader. The party cut across ethnic and social lines and was widely supported. Rwagasore was nominated prime minister in October 1961 but was assassinated by a European two weeks later, apparently with the full backing of an alarmed Belgian

community.

Nevertheless Rwagasore's political success began a trend in Burundi which was in sharp contrast with the situation in Rwanda. The Tutsi ruling class was able to participate in politics and retain their hold on power whereas, with independence in Rwanda, the Tutsi were swept from official power. However, in the run-up to the general elections in Burundi in 1962 the fragile cohesion gave way and there were violent confrontations between Hutu and Tutsi and between the Tutsi princes themselves.

Mwami Mwambutsa ruled as King and Head of State of independent Burundi from 1962 to 1965 but it was clear that the majority Hutu were restive for more power. Following the elections in 1964 in which the Hutu virtually swept the board, the King refused to appoint a Hutu prime minister. This led to violent clashes and the King fled to Switzerland. Colonel Micombero, a Tutsi, took over effective power and became President in 1966. The UPORNA was declared the only party and the colonel appeared to favour a policy of confrontation against the Hutu.

In 1972, following an abortive coup by the Hutu in which some 1,000 Tutsi were killed, the largely Tutsi army set out on a mission of genocide, killing every educated Hutu they could find. This led to a huge exodus of Hutus into neighbouring Tanzania and Uganda where many of them still remain. It is estimated that about 1 million Hutus out of a population of 5 million are refugees.

In 1976, Colonel Micombero was overthrown by Jean Baptiste Bagaza who ruled until 1987 when his younger colleague Pierre Buyoya ousted him while he was out of the country. Buyoya was a quiet and peace-loving man who tried to knit his fractured country together. Although a Tutsi, Buyoya was confident enough to call for the country's first multi-party elections in June last year.

To the surprise of many people, Buyoya lost to a 40-year-old bank executive, Melchior Ndadaye, a Hutu and leader of the newly formed Front for Democracy. This sparked protests from the Tutsi who protested against the 'ethnic nature of the elections'.

In July last year, Ndadaye plucked Ntaryamira from obscurity as an agriculture planner in the civil service and asked him to head the Ministry of Agriculture. Ntaryamira, typical of a new breed of educated young men who abhor tribal animosities, immediately appointed several Tutsi to high office in his ministry. In October, a group of renegade soldiers assassinated Ndadaye and in the process unleashed a wave of killing. The abortive coup was quashed and the civilian government appointed Ntaryamira the new President in February.

Ntaryamira was born in Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi, in 1955. Following the 1972 massacres in which an estimated 100,000 people were killed, he escaped to Rwanda where he studied at various schools. He obtained an honours degree in agronomy from the University of Kigali and founded a students movement with other Burundian exiles. Although he worked for a while in Rwanda, he was always obsessed by the politics in his home country. He returned to Burundi in the mid-Eighties following an appeal by President Buyoya for the exiles to come back and help run the country.

In Burundi he took a post in the foreign ministry and with the winds of multi-party democracy blowing strongly, become one of the founder members of the Front for Democracy which contested the country's first plural elections.

During his short period as first Minister of Agriculture under Ndadaye, and later as President, Ntaryamira impressed foreign observers with his intelligence and quiet grasp of complex issues. He was popular with the people, both Hutu and Tutsi, and even his adversaries expressed confidence in his handling of affairs.

Following Ndadaye's death, Ntaryamira was seen as Burundi's best hope of healing the age-old rift between the Hutu and the Tutsi.

(Photograph omitted)