Wednesday 21 October President Ndadaye’s Day in Burundi
Melchoir Ndadaye was the first democratically elected and the first Hutu president of Burundi.
In 1993, in the first free elections after 26 years of military rule, Ndadaye won, polling around 66% of the vote. He survived a coup attempt on July 3rd and was sworn in as President of Burundi on July 10th of that year.
Aged just 40, he was assassinated on October 21st 1993 during a failed military coup led by former president Jean-Baptiste Bagaza and Army Chief of Staff Col. Jean Bikomagu.
Ndadaye’s assassination was the spark that led to a decade-long civil war between the Tutsi and Hutu ethnic groups.
Today Ndadaye is remembered as the founding father of the country’s democracy and remains a symbol of unity and reconciliation.