Sylvie Kinigi

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"I wanted peace and normal conditions but my collaborators wanted me to declare a coup d'état! You can't carry on like that. When I managed to get a successor elected in a reasonably acceptable manner, I resigned."

—Kinigi speaking on her role after the coup, 1999 [26]

Kinigi, burdened by the leadership responsibility placed upon her by the political vacuum, sought to enable the selection of a new president. [23] On 9 January 1994, [27] at her direction, [26] the National Assembly modified Article 85 of the Burundian constitution, empowering itself to elect the next president of Burundi. [27] Four days later the National Assembly elected Ntaryamira to become president in a vote, 78 to one. [28] Ntaryamira was scheduled to be inaugurated on 22 January, but the parliamentary opposition, led by UPRONA, filed a suit with the Constitutional Court to block the installment. They argued that Article 182 of the constitution, which stipulated that the document could not be modified in times of national crisis, rendered the National Assembly's amending of Article 85 void. FRODEBU parliamentarians argued that the change was necessary to fill the vacancy, since holding a national election to replace the former president would have been impossible. [27] The Constitutional Court ruled in favor of the opposition in a decision split along ethnic lines. The Hutu justices subsequently resigned [27] and on 29 January Kinigi's government issued a decree dismissing the Tutsi justices. [29] This led to several days of violence in Bujumbura. [27] With the assistance of United Nations representative Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, Kinigi brokered a compromise with the opposition, [30] whereby Ntaryamira would be installed as president with a new UPRONA prime minister, [31] and the Constitutional Court would be reinstated. Ntaryamira was sworn in on 5 February. [27] Kinigi resigned as prime minister when he was inaugurated. [5] On 7 February Ntaryamira appointed Anatole Kanyenkiko to replace her. [9]

Kinigi was the second woman to serve as president of an African country, after Carmen Pereira of Guinea-Bissau, who also held the office in an interim fashion. [32] Opinions on her time in government were starkly divided. [33] Many of her Tutsi contemporaries regarded her as vacuous and a negative influence on the country, with Panafrika denouncing her as "Madame Fiasco". [34] She retained a significant amount of respect among FRODEBU members. Responding to criticism of her leadership, Marc Manirakiza wrote, "What could she have done in the face of an unforeseen and unprecedented chaotic situation?" [33] Reflecting on her time in government in 1999, Kinigi said it made people realise "that a woman can do even more than a man can do, with a soul of a mother and strong will, at the highest level of politics." [26] Linking her to her contemporary in Rwanda, Agathe Uwilingiyimana, political scientist Jane Jansen wrote that the two women "owed their temporary rise to the top to an attempt to find an accommodation to the ethnic conflicts that plagued their respective countries." [7]

Later work

Upon leaving government, Kinigi assumed an executive position at the Banque Commerciale du Burundi. She then held several international positions, including jobs at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the United Nations Development Programme (representing it in Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, and Senegal), and the office of the UN Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region in Nairobi, where she served as a political advisor and programme coordinator. She returned to Burundi in 2008 and became an independent economic consultant. [9] In that capacity she advocated for the right of women to inherit land and property and for the use of democracy. [35] In 2016 the Carter Center selected Kinigi to lead its international election observer mission in Zambia for that year's general elections. [36]

See also

Notes

  1. Kinigi appealed to the Constitutional Court for clarification on the status of the vacant presidency following the coup. On 8 November 1993 the Court ruled that "the government acting collegially" assumed the responsibilities of the interim presidency until a new president could be elected. [19] [20]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Hatungimana 2012, p. 387.
  2. 1 2 Lorch, Donatella (26 April 1994). "Specter of Hate Stalks Burundi, Too: Tutsi soldiers and armed Hutu rebels mimic Rwandans". The New York Times. p. A9.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Skard 2014, p. 289.
  4. 1 2 3 Rickards, Colin (18 November 1993). "Burundi : Woman heads government". Share . Vol. 16, no. 31. p. 11.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Skard 2014, p. 290.
  6. 1 2 3 Hatungimana 2012, pp. 387–388.
  7. 1 2 3 Jansen 2008, p. 68.
  8. Banks 1993, p. 118.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Hatungimana 2012, p. 388.
  10. Banshimiyubusa 2018, p. 405.
  11. Whitaker's Almanack 1993, p. 832.
  12. 1 2 Giraudineau 1993, p. 34.
  13. 1 2 Hoogensen & Solheim 2006, p. 51.
  14. Krueger & Krueger 2007, pp. 37–38.
  15. 1 2 "PM leaves embassy". The Independent (third ed.). Reuters. 8 November 1993. ProQuest   312985897
  16. Krueger & Krueger 2007, p. 39.
  17. "Burundi rivals talk, seek agreement". The Evening Sun. Hanover. 3 November 1993. p. A13. ProQuest   306501336
  18. Edlin, John (1993). "Burundi: The land that lost its head". Southern Africa Political & Economic Monthly. pp. 25–26.
  19. La Cour constitutionnelle de la République du Burundi siegeant en matiere de constatation de la vacance du poste de Président de la République a rendu l'arret suivant, Constitutional Court of Burundi, 8 November 1993, retrieved 22 September 2021 via Great Lakes of Africa Centre
  20. 1 2 Legum 1994, p. B-285.
  21. Skard 2014, pp. 290–291.
  22. Banshimiyubusa 2018, pp. 405–406.
  23. 1 2 Banshimiyubusa 2018, p. 406.
  24. Banshimiyubusa 2018, p. 643.
  25. Amnesty International Report 1994, p. 84.
  26. 1 2 3 Skard 2014, p. 291.
  27. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Burundi". Africa Report. Vol. 39, no. 2. March 1994. p. 7.
  28. "New President Elected". Africa Research Bulletin. Vol. 31–32. January 1994.
  29. Chrétien & Mukuri 2002, p. 63.
  30. Country Report 1994, p. 30.
  31. Waegenaere, Xavier (April 1996). "À la Mémoire de Cyprien Ntaryamira". Ijambo (in French). No. 14. Archived from the original on 10 April 2008.
  32. Welz 2021, p. 160.
  33. 1 2 Banshimiyubusa 2018, p. 407.
  34. Banshimiyubusa 2018, pp. 406–407.
  35. Hatungimana 2012, pp. 388–389.
  36. Mumba, Catherine (4 August 2016). "Former Burundi acting President to lead Carter team". Zambia Daily Mail . Retrieved 31 May 2021.

Works cited

Sylvie Kinigi
Sylvie Kinigi at Bujumbura airport, 1993.jpg
Kinigi in 1993
President of Burundi
Acting
In office
27 October 1993 5 February 1994
Political offices
Preceded by Prime Minister of Burundi
1993–1994
Succeeded by
Preceded by President of Burundi
Acting

1993–1994
Succeeded by