The evils of Burundi’s bizarre June 2025 parliamentary election results have arrived at the Kigobe Congress Centre to haunt the National Assembly with constitutional dilemmas.
It is a new reality that intrigues diehard supporters of President Evariste Ndayishimiye’s ruling National Council for the Defence of Democracy and the Forces for the Defence of Democracy (identified by its French acronym, CNDD-FDD). The party won the legislative poll by garnering 96.51% of the votes in all provinces. Consequently, apart from three deputies from the Batwa community, all the other seats in the National Assembly are occupied by CNDD-FDD members. This represents 108 seats out of 111.
Opposition political parties denounced the election as rigged. Human Rights Watch opined that the results were an indication that democracy had been “hollowed out” in Burundi, and that the CNDD-FDD, in power since 2005, “sought to dismantle all meaningful opposition.”
Indeed, signs that the seat of Burundi people’s representatives would suffer from the ignoble ‘unanimity of the graveyard’ were glaring on July 31, when members of the newly-elected National Assembly met to pick the Speaker who would serve for five years. Daniel Gelase Ndabirabe of CNDD-FDD was the sole candidate and was re-elected with 109 of the 111 votes, or 98.1 percent.
Two days earlier, other ruling party members were elected to join Ndabirabe in constituting the National Assembly bureau (leadership team). They were Fabrice Nkurunziza (First Deputy Speaker, 99.1 percent of the vote) and Boussessia Nkezimana (Second Deputy Speaker, unanimous). Tellingly, members had to amend the House rules to allow the ruling party to take up all the seats on the bureau. The team is required to consist of three members from different political parties. In the previous legislature, the assembly included representatives from CNDD-FDD, the Union for National Progress (UPRONA) and the National Congress for Liberty (CNL).
Ndabirabe was re-elected amid suppressed complaints from sections of Burundians over his eligibility for the high office. According to SOS Medias Burundi, the Speaker of the National Assembly is known for his radical remarks, and “he recently called for ‘cutting off the hands’ of traders accused of hiding fuel and advocated for the reintroduction of the death penalty for those involved in smuggling.” He is one of the closest associates of President Ndayishimiye, and sits on the Council of Elders of the CNDD-FDD.
It is instructive that barely two months into office, the representatives of the Burundians want to control how much the public gets to know about their work in the august House. They have restricted media coverage of the National Assembly. Many private media have been stopped from covering its proceedings. Only a few outlets deemed to be supporting “government action” are allowed to cover the House proceedings. Only Iwacu, of the publications sampled, had the guts to expose the anomaly.
In its edition of September 20, titled, ‘National Assembly: Restricted access for private media raises questions’, it revealed that two of its reporters were among those from private entities who, on September 12, were blocked from accessing the precincts of the assembly. Reason? They were not on the list of the invited media. Only a few journalists were permitted. Also, that feeds for private television stations had been discontinued, and that important sittings of the assembly had been held “without open access or live broadcasts.”
Commendably, Iwacu reporters Jules Bercy Igiraneza and Gateretse Quote referred readers to Article 162 of the 2018 Burundian Constitution: “The sessions of the National Assembly and the Senate are public. However, the National Assembly and the Senate may meet behind closed doors if necessary.” They reported that the officers of the assembly offered no explanation for sitting in camera. The publication firmed this position by harvesting diverse views from a former assembly member, constitutional experts, media unionists and human rights activists. There was also a strongly worded editorial to boot.
Lesson learnt? The latest order on ‘selective’ media coverage of Burundi’s National Assembly confirms fears that the country’s authoritarian leadership is hurtling back to the single-party system. Determined journalism must continuously remind assembly members (including Speaker Ndabirabe) that as elected leaders, they are public employees who should work in total and accountable transparency.
