Alphonse-Marie Kadege is a Burundian politician. He was Vice-President of Burundi from 30 April 2003 to 11 November 2004. Kadege was dismissed for failing in his "main mission of assisting the head of state". [1] Additionally, Ndayizeye stated that Kadege had boycotted meetings that he had called in September to discuss a draft of the constitution, which made it so an extraordinary session of Congress had to occur. [1] He is an ethnic Tutsi and a member of the Union for National Progress (UPRONA) Party.
On January 15, 2007, he was acquitted on charges of plotting a coup, along with former president Domitien Ndayizeye and three others; two others were sentenced to long prison terms. [2] Initially, the Attorney-General Jean Bosco Ndikumana withheld details about the arrests, which were confirmed by UPRONA Chairman Aloys Rubuka. [3] The authorities initially detained him on charges of "destabilizing state institutions", although Rubuka accused them of having no proof of any wrongdoing. [3] During his time in prison, Amnesty International stated that Kadege was being mistreated according to his wife in an interrogation room. [4]
On 19 October 2020, the Supreme Court of Burundi sentenced him to prison for involvement in the murder of President Melchior Ndadaye in 1993. [5]
Kadege had lived in Kinanira III in the Commune of Muha, but subsequently moved to the United States after his initial trial. [6] Jean-Claude Kavumbag, the Director of the Net Press Agency, accused Kadege of not being able to legally live in the government residence in Kinanira, which prompted a defamation complaint, resulting in the case going through the High Court of Bujumbura and the Bujumbura Court of Appeal. [6]