After the civil war in Burundi, which left at least 300,000 deadfitness trainer and educator Pierre Nkurunziza was declared the nation’s president in 2005. He had been a Hutu rebel during the disputes between Hutus and Tutsis, which like in Rwanda turned into attacks that led to ethnic persecution.
Unlike Rwanda, where almost a million people were killed in less than a year during the genocide, Burundi received no support to stop the violence. It is a Central African nation with no sea outlets, neighbor of the Rwandan nation in which the civil war lasted for 13 years.
Although Nkurunziza initially made a speech of ethnic union in the country, remembering that his mother was Tutsi and his father Hutu, scandals about corruption in his government soon appeared and this became a reason for young people to unite in opposition to power. what it represented.
After the signing of the Arusha Peace Agreement, a president in Burundi was prohibited from being re-elected for a third term, so in theory, Nkurunziza should have left power in 2015. However, with the excuse that he had been appointed president in 2005 by ministers, he still had a possible re-election in democratic elections.
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The Arusha Agreement also determined that all government positions should be shared between 60% Hutu and 40% Tutsi, but Nkurunziza’s party he argued that it was unfair for the Tutsi to occupy so many positions if they only represented 14% of the population.
A sports president
Pierre Nkurunziza managed to study physical education thanks to his ability to play almost any sport. In Burundi, he positioned himself as a president who defended exercising, even, as reported by the ‘BBC’ in 2014, he played soccer daily.
During the times of civil war in the country, citizens tended to go jogging and running in groups, as they felt safer that way, while the military, controlled by the Tutsi because of a Belgian government decree before its independence in 1962, They went on the catwalk while they made songs that called for violence.
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Over time, for the people of Burundi, jogging became an act of resistance apart from simple physical exercise. For a long time, until the end of the civil war in 2005, runners joined sports clubs with political affiliations to each ethnic group and party.
Later, they sought to unify teams with members of both ethnic groups and it worked for a long time, but the instability in the country continued and many blamed the Nkurunziza government for staying in power irregularly.
Prohibit running, a penalty that could lead to jail
As reporter Peter Frick-Wright found out while working in Burundi on an article about running as a sport, for the specialized outlet ‘Outside’, one of the great critics of Nkurunziza was the Tutsi radio journalist: Alexis Sinduhije.
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Sinduhije reported different stories on ‘Radio Publique Africa’ about cases of corruption of the then president and co-founded the opposition party Movement for Solidarity and Democracy (MSD).
Sinduhije eventually gave up journalism and decided that he would run as a presidential candidate against Pierre Nkurunziza. By 2014, direct government permission was required when organizing demonstrations.
The MSD took advantage of the national practice of running in groups to organize a march in protest against the Nkurunziza government, which had become more bloody, with complaints that members of the armed forces tortured journalists and opponents, and participated in gang rapes.
The Police found out about the MSD plan and decided they would arrest anyone jogging in large groups. Still they did. The protesters ran to the party headquarters where they tried to hide for a few hours. Authorities injured ten people and arrested dozens, some receiving life sentences in prison.
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From then on, in order to run in Burundi, it is mandatory to join a running club, report the names of all members to the government, and limit yourself to training in one of the nine areas designated for the sport, because running in a group was directly associated with an act of opposition against the government.
Individuals can continue running without raising suspicion, but given the country’s tradition of running in groups, this practice is not as widespread. In 2020, President Pierre Nkurunziza declared that he would not run for a third re-election and passed away in June of the same year.
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