Ambassador of the United States to Burundi | |
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![]() Seal of the United States Department of State | |
Nominator | The President of the United States |
Appointer | The President with Senate advice and consent |
Inaugural holder | Donald A. Dumont as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary |
Formation | October 25, 1962 |
Website | U.S. Embassy - Bujumbura |
The part of Africa that is now Burundi and Rwanda was a feudal monarchy headed by a mwami (king) and a ganwa, a feudal hierarchy of Tutsi nobles and gentry until 1890. In that year the Germans attacked the nation and attempted to subdue it with armed force. Eventually the Germans backed an attempted coup d’état against the king, Mwezi Gisabo. The coup was unsuccessful, but Gisabo was eventually forced to concede and agreed to German suzerainty. The Germans then helped him suppress the revolt. Thus Burundi became part of German East Africa in 1890.
In 1915 during The Great War, Belgian troops from Zaire drove the small number of Germans out of Burundi and took control of the country.
After World War I Germany lost its overseas possessions and the League of Nations mandated Burundi and its northern neighbor, Rwanda, to Belgium as the territory of Ruanda-Urundi in 1923. The western kingdoms of Ruanda-Urundi were stripped from the old colonies and given to British-administered Tanganyika. The Belgians administered the territory through indirect rule, building on the Tutsi-dominated aristocratic hierarchy.
Following World War II, Ruanda-Urundi became a United Nations Trust Territory with Belgium as the administrative authority.
In June 1962 the UN General Assembly terminated the Belgian trusteeship and granted full independence to Rwanda and Burundi. The United States immediately recognized the Burundian government and moved to establish diplomatic relations. The U.S. Embassy in the capital Usumbura (now Bujumbura) was established on July 1, 1962, with Herbert V. Olds as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim. Donald A. Dumont was appointed as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Burundi on October 25, 1962.
The rank of the mission was changed to Legation effective December 15, 1962, and to Embassy again effective September 16, 1963.
U.S. diplomatic terms |
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Career FSO After 1915, The United States Department of State began classifying ambassadors as career Foreign Service Officers (FSOs) for those who have served in the Foreign Service for a specified amount of time. Political appointee A person who is not a career foreign service officer, but is appointed by the president (often as a reward to political friends). Appointed The date that the ambassador took the oath of office; also known as "commissioning". It follows confirmation of a presidential appointment by the Senate, or a Congressional recess appointment by the president. In the case of a recess appointment, the ambassador requires subsequent confirmation by the Senate to remain in office. Presented credentials The date that the ambassador presented his letter of credence to the head of state or appropriate authority of the receiving nation. At this time the ambassador officially becomes the representative of his country. This would normally occur a short time after the ambassador's arrival on station. The host nation may reject the ambassador by not receiving the ambassador's letter, but this occurs only rarely. Terminated mission Usually the date that the ambassador left the country. In some cases a letter of recall is presented, ending the ambassador's commission, either as a means of diplomatic protest or because the diplomat is being reassigned elsewhere and replaced by another envoy. Chargé d'affaires The person in charge of the business of the embassy when there is no ambassador commissioned to the host country. Ad interim Latin phrase meaning "for the time being", "in the meantime". |
Name | Title | Appointed | Presented credentials | Terminated mission | Notes |
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Donald A. Dumont – Career FSO [1] [2] [3] | Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary | October 25, 1962 | January 17, 1963 | August 1, 1963 | Dumont was promoted to Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary on August 1, 1963. This required a new commission. |
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | August 1, 1963 | September 16, 1963 | January 10, 1966 | Recall requested by Govt. of Burundi, December 29, 1965 | |
George W. Renchard – Career FSO | July 24, 1968 | August 10, 1968 | October 15, 1969 | ||
Thomas Patrick Melady – Political appointee | November 4, 1969 | January 31, 1970 | May 25, 1972 | ||
Robert L. Yost – Career FSO | June 27, 1972 | August 19, 1972 | May 26, 1974 | ||
David E. Mark – Career FSO | June 20, 1974 | September 4, 1974 | August 26, 1977 | ||
Thomas J. Corcoran – Career FSO [4] | March 2, 1978 | April 6, 1978 | August 19, 1980 | ||
Frances D. Cook – Career FSO | June 30, 1980 | September 25, 1980 | March 15, 1983 | ||
James R. Bullington – Career FSO | March 13, 1983 | April 14, 1983 | July 11, 1986 | ||
James Daniel Phillips [5] – Career FSO | October 16, 1986 | November 20, 1986 | January 12, 1990 | ||
Cynthia Shepard Perry – Political appointee | November 21, 1989 | February 12, 1990 | February 28, 1993 | The post was vacant from March 1993 to June 1994. Leonard J. Lange, Career FSO, served as chargé d'affaires ad interim during that period. | |
Robert Krueger – Political appointee | May 9, 1994 | June 29, 1994 | September 10, 1995 | ||
Morris N. Hughes, Jr. – Career FSO | June 11, 1996 | June 27, 1996 | May 14, 1999 | ||
Mary Carlin Yates – Career FSO | November 16, 1999 | December 15, 1999 | June 19, 2002 | ||
James Howard Yellin – Career FSO | August 8, 2002 | September 26, 2002 | July 21, 2005 | ||
Patricia Moller – Career FSO | October 27, 2005 | March 31, 2006 | June 29, 2009 [6] | ||
Pamela J. H. Slutz - Career FSO [7] | November 2, 2009 | December 11, 2009 | February 22, 2012 | ||
Dawn M. Liberi – Career FSO | October 19, 2012 | January 18, 2013 | July 24, 2016 | ||
Anne S. Casper – Career FSO | May 18, 2016 | October 20, 2016 | May 5, 2019 | ||
Eunice Reddick – Career FSO | Chargé d'Affairs ad interim | May 5, 2019 | March 2, 2021 | ||
Melanie Harris Higgins – Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | November 18, 2020 | March 2, 2021 | July 13, 2023 | |
Keith R. Gilges – Career FSO | Chargé d'Affairs ad interim | July 14, 2023 | May 2024 | ||
David Dale Reimer - Career FSO | Chargé d'Affairs ad interim | May 2024 | June 21, 2024 | ||
Lisa J. Peterson - Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | May 2, 2024 | June 27, 2024 | Incumbent |
The BurundiNational Defence Force is the state military organisation responsible for the defence of Burundi.
Burundi originated in the 16th century as a small kingdom in the African Great Lakes region. After European contact, it was united with the Kingdom of Rwanda, becoming the colony of Ruanda-Urundi - first colonised by Germany and then by Belgium. The colony gained independence in 1962, and split once again into Rwanda and Burundi. It is one of the few countries in Africa to be a direct territorial continuation of a pre-colonial era African state.
Louis Rwagasore was a Burundian prince and politician, who served as the second prime minister of Burundi for two weeks, from 28 September 1961 until his assassination on 13 October. Born to the Ganwa family of Burundian Mwami (king) Mwambutsa IV in Belgian-administered Ruanda-Urundi in 1932, Rwagasore was educated in Burundian Catholic schools before attending university in Belgium. After he returned to Burundi in the mid-1950s he founded a series of cooperatives to economically empower native Burundians and build up his base of political support. The Belgian administration took over the venture, and as a result of the affair his national profile increased and he became a leading figure of the anti-colonial movement.
Mwambutsa IV Bangiricenge was the penultimate king (mwami) of Burundi who ruled between 1915 and 1966. He succeeded to the throne on the death of his father Mutaga IV Mbikije. Born while Burundi was under German colonial rule, Mwambutsa's reign mostly coincided with Belgian colonial rule (1916–62). The Belgians retained the monarchs of both Rwanda and Burundi under the policy of indirect rule.
Grégoire Kayibanda was a Rwandan politician and revolutionary who was the first elected President of Rwanda from 1962 to 1973. An ethnic Hutu, he was a pioneer of the Rwandan Revolution and led Rwanda's struggle for independence from Belgium, replacing the Tutsi monarchy with a republican form of government. Rwanda became independent from Belgium in 1962, with Kayibanda serving as the country's first president, establishing a pro-Hutu policy and a de facto one-party system governed by his party, Parmehutu. He was overthrown in a coup d'état in 1973 by his defense minister, Juvénal Habyarimana, and died three years later.
Ruanda-Urundi, later Rwanda-Burundi, was a colonial territory, once part of German East Africa, that was occupied by troops from the Belgian Congo during the East African campaign in World War I and was administered by Belgium under military occupation from 1916 to 1922. It was subsequently awarded to Belgium as a Class-B Mandate under the League of Nations in 1922 and became a Trust Territory of the United Nations in the aftermath of World War II and the dissolution of the League. In 1962 Ruanda-Urundi became the two independent states of Rwanda and Burundi.
Pierre Ngendandumwe was a Burundian politician. He was a member of the Union for National Progress and was an ethnic Hutu. On 18 June 1963, about a year after Burundi gained independence and amidst efforts to bring about political cooperation between Hutus and the dominant minority Tutsis, Ngendandumwe became Burundi's first Hutu prime minister. He served as prime minister until 6 April 1964 and then became prime minister again on 7 January 1965, serving until his death. Eight days after beginning his second term, he was assassinated by a Rwandan Tutsi refugee.
In 1962, the United States established diplomatic relations with Burundi when it gained its independence from Belgium. Following independence, the country experienced political assassinations, ethnic violence, and cyclical periods of armed conflict; several governments were installed through coups. The 2000 Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement provided a negotiated settlement framework that, along with later ceasefire agreements, led to the end of the 1993-2006 civil war. President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision to seek a third presidential term in 2015 sparked protests in the capital and was followed by a failed coup d’état. The resultant violence and political and economic crises resulted in massive refugee flows to neighboring countries. The United States Embassy in Burundi's policy states: "The United States supports the achievement of long-term stability and prosperity in Burundi through broad, inclusive reconciliation; humanitarian assistance; economic growth; and the promotion of political openness and expansion of democratic freedoms. The United States supports the East African Community (EAC)-facilitated Burundian dialogue and other conflict resolution efforts within Burundi. The United States seeks to facilitate Burundi's deeper integration into regional and international markets, as a means to promote sustainable economic development."
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Burundi:
Joseph Cimpaye was a Burundian politician and writer.
Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa. It is bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and southeast, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west; Lake Tanganyika lies along its southwestern border. The capital city is Gitega and the largest city is Bujumbura.
An attempted coup d'etat in Burundi took place between 18–19 October 1965, when a group of ethnic Hutu officers from the Burundian military and gendarmerie attempted to overthrow Burundi's government. The rebels were frustrated with the king (mwami) of Burundi, Mwambutsa IV, who had repeatedly attempted to cement his control over the government and bypassed parliamentary norms despite Hutu electoral gains. Although the prime minister was shot and wounded, the coup failed due to the intervention of a contingent of troops led by Captain Michel Micombero.
The Ikiza, or the Ubwicanyi (Killings), was a series of mass killings—often characterised as a genocide—which were committed in Burundi in 1972 by the Tutsi-dominated army and government, primarily against educated and elite Hutus who lived in the country. Conservative estimates place the death toll of the event between 100,000 and 150,000 killed, while some estimates of the death toll go as high as 300,000.
Gilles Bimazubute was a Burundian politician.
Belgium-Rwanda relations refers to the international and diplomatic relations between Belgium and Rwanda. Belgian relations with Rwanda started under the League of Nations mandate, when the modern day countries of Rwanda and Burundi were governed as Ruanda-Urundi. As the colonial power, Rwanda's relationship with Belgium has been significant throughout the country's history, even after independence.
In the Rwandan Revolution, the coup of Gitarama was an event which occurred on 28 January 1961 in which the monarchy in Rwanda, then a part of the Belgian mandate of Ruanda-Urundi, was abolished and replaced with a republican political system. The traditional monarchy was led by a Mwami (king), who ruled through an administration of chiefs and subchiefs in the context of a feudal system of patron-client relations based on tribute. The Mwami and most of his chiefs were members of the Tutsi ethnic minority, a group which wielded considerable social, political economic power. Of subordinate status to the Tutsis was the Hutu ethnic majority. As part of their rule, the Belgians institutionalised a racial hierarchy which favoured the Tutsis at the expense of the Hutus.
Germany–Rwanda relations are good and there is a "close and pragmatic" relationship between the two countries, according to the German Foreign Office. In the 21st century, Germany is one of the most important donors of development aid to Rwanda.