Yoweri Museveni :Pierre Nkurunziza was a peace lover and good listener

President Yoweri Museveni of uganda has hailed the former President of Burundi Pierre Nkrunzizza, who died more than a month ago, describing him as a peace lover who listened to advice and signed a peace deal that saw his country stabilize for the last 15 years.

Speaking at the Burundian Embassy in Kampala yesterday where he had gone to express his sympathy to the country and the family of the late Nkurunziza, Museveni said Burundi has lost a great leader. 

“I remember him very well when he listened to our advice to come from the bush with Rajab. We met them in Dar es Salaam. They came from the bush and negotiated with his excellency Buyoya. That’s how we got the Arusha accord that gave Burundi peace for 15 years. We salute his contribution to Burundi and East Africa. It is a sad loss because he was a young person. We just came to say pole.”  

At the embassy, Museveni who was accompanied by the First Lady Janet Kataha was welcomed by the Burundian ambassador to Uganda, Epiphanie Kabushemeye-Ntamwana, Uganda’s state minister of Foreign Affairs, Okello Oryem and embassy staff. 

“We have come here to express our condolences to the people of Burundi and to the family of the late President Pierre Nkurunziza,” Museveni wrote in the condolence book.

For her part, Janet thanked God for the life and service of Nkurunziza to the people of Burundi “I come to give our condolences to the former First Lady, Mrs Nkurunziza and her whole family in this very difficult time. Please know we pray for you,” she wrote.

Ambassador Kabushemeye-Ntamwana thanked the president and first lady for making time out of their busy schedules to condole with them. The ambassador said that as a country, they learnt many important lessons from the late Nkurunziza’s reign as president, during which Burundi has achieved a lot in sectors of education, health, social-economic transformation among others.

Nkurunziza died on June 8, 2020 from a hospital in Karuzi after suffering a cardiac arrest at the age of 55. After 15 years in power, Nkurunziza was due to step down in August this year after the May general election that saw Evarisite Ndayishimiye elected president of Burundi. He is survived by a wife, Denise Bucumi Nkurunziza and five children.