On 21 October 1993, a coup was attempted in Burundi by a Tutsi–dominated army faction. The coup attempt resulted in assassination of Hutu President Melchior Ndadaye and the deaths of other officials in the constitutional line of presidential succession. François Ngeze was presented as the new President of Burundi by the army, but the coup failed under domestic and international pressure, leaving Prime Minister Sylvie Kinigi in charge of the government.
Following a long period of military rule by Tutsi army officers, in the early 1990s Burundi underwent a democratic transition. In June 1993 presidential and parliamentary elections were held and won by the Hutu-dominated Front pour la Démocratie au Burundi (FRODEBU), displacing the ruling Union pour le Progrès National (UPRONA) and President Pierre Buyoya. A new coalition government was installed on 10 July with FRODEBU leader Ndadaye as Burundi's first Hutu president. Ndadaye's tenure was largely peaceful, but during his time in office Burundi was subject to several social and political disruptions. Thousands of Burundian Hutu refugees who had fled previous political violence returned to the country en masse, while the government reconsidered various contracts and economic concessions made by the previous regimes and began reforming the army. These actions threatened the interest of Tutsi business elites and military officers. In this atmosphere, elements in the army began planning a coup. The exact identity of those who led the plot remains unknown, though Ngeze, Army Chief of Staff Jean Bikomagu, ex-President Jean-Baptiste Bagaza, and outgoing President Buyoya are widely suspected to have been involved.
Early in the morning on 21 October 1993 army units took up positions around Bujumbura and mounted an attack on the presidential palace. After several hours Ndadaye was captured and taken to a military camp where he was murdered. The putschists also targeted key FRODEBU leaders, killing President of the National Assembly Pontien Karibwami, Vice President of the National Assembly Gilles Bimazubute, Minister of Home Affairs and Communal Development Juvénal Ndayikeza, and Director of Intelligence Richard Ndikumwami. The deaths of Karibwami and Bimazubute eliminated the constitutional line of presidential succession. Other government figures, including Kinigi, survived by fleeing or seeking shelter at the French embassy. Later that day the army formed a crisis committee and presented Ngeze as the new President of Burundi. The announcement of Ndadaye's death touched off severe ethnic violence, as angered Hutu peasants and FRODEBU members began murdering Tutsis. The army retaliated by massacring Hutus. The international community and civil society organisations condemned the coup and requested a return to constitutional governance. Faced with these challenges, in the afternoon of 23 October Bikomagu ordered the army to return to its barracks, and two days later Kinigi's government announced the abrogation of all emergency measures declared by the putschists.
The coup attempt left Prime Minister Kinigi—the highest-ranking civilian official to survive—the de facto head of state of Burundi. Civilian institutions of government were reestablished in earnest in December. Attempts by the National Assembly to elect a successor to Ndadaye were stifled by the Tutsi-dominated Constitutional Court, though the body eventually succeed in selecting Cyprien Ntaryamira as President of Burundi in January 1994. Ntaryamira died in April and was succeeded by Sylvestre Ntibantunganya, while ethnic violence persisted and UPRONA pushed demands for more favorable constitutional arrangements. Frustrated by this turn of events, some FRODEBU elements broke away from the party and formed rebel groups, leading to the Burundian Civil War.
Background From the mid-1960s, the country of Burundi was politically dominated by its Tutsi ethnic minority at the expense of the Hutu majority. Union pour le Progrès National (UPRONA), which served as the legal ruling party from 1966, was overwhelmingly made up of Tutsis. Military officers dominated the presidency, coming to power through coups. During this time there instances of ethnic repression, particularly in 1972 when the Burundian Army quashed a Hutu rebellion and then murdered thousands of civilians.
In 1987 Pierre Buyoya became President of Burundi following a coup. He initially ignored the country's ethnic strife and perpetuated Tutsi domination of public life. In August 1988 violence broke out and the army massacred thousands of Hutus. Facing substantial foreign pressure, Buyoya initiated reforms designed to end Burundi's systemic ethnic violence, while UPRONA attempted to incorporate more Hutus into its ranks. The Tutsi establishment in the army and security forces nevertheless resisted change. A commission appointed by the president produced a constitution which provided for democratic elections. The document was adopted via referendum in March 1992 followed shortly thereafter by the creation of new political parties. Buyoya scheduled free elections in 1993 and offered himself as UPRONA's presidential candidate. UPRONA's main challenger became Front pour la Démocratie au Burundi (FRODEBU), a party largely associated with Hutus. In the 1 June presidential election Buyoya faced Melchior Ndadaye, who was backed by FRODEBU. Ndadaye won the election in a landslide, earning 64 percent of the popular vote. In the subsequent parliamentary elections on 29 June, FRODEBU won 71.4 percent of the vote and earned 80 percent of the seats in the National Assembly. The party also took over most local administration, displacing many Tutsi incumbents.
Rumors circulated in Burundi that the army would attempt to intervene to disrupt the transition. Ndadaye reassured a supporter that "They can kill Ndadaye, but they can't kill all 5 million Ndadayes." A plot from a handful of officers discovered on 3 July to seize Ndadaye's residence failed due to a lack of support from other components of the military, resulting in several arrests, including that of its suspected leader, Lieutenant Colonel Slyvestre Ningaba, who had been chef de cabinet for Buyoya. Buyoya—who had urged the populace to accept the results of the election—condemned the coup attempt, as did the army leadership. Ndadaye was sworn-in as President on 10 July. He assembled a government of 23 ministers, including 13 FRODEBU and six UPRONA members. Nine of the ministers were Tutsi, including Prime Minister Sylvie Kinigi, a member of UPRONA.
Ndadaye's tenure was largely peaceful, but during his time in office Burundi was subject to several social and political disruptions. Among the former, the media—recently liberalised—often used its freedom to discuss public issues in an inflammatory manner. Thousands of Burundian Hutu refugees who had fled during the violence of 1972 began returning en masse and demanding the reclamation of their property. Though Ndadaye suggested resettling them in vacant lands, many local officials made room for them by evicting others from their homes. Politically, Ndadaye's government reexamined several contracts and economic concessions made the by the previous regime, posing a threat to Tutsi elite business interests. Military reforms also led to the separation of the gendarmerie's command from the army, the replacement of the chiefs of staff of the army and gendarmerie, and new requirements for enrollment into the army were introduced. The army was due to open its annual recruitment drive in November, and there were fears among some Tutsi soldiers that this process would be altered in a way that would threaten their dominance of the institution.
Coup organisers
At some point a group of army personnel began planning a coup against Ndadaye's government. According to an officer in the Presidential Guard, one of the preparations taken by the plotters was to move troops from further postings into Bujumbura to grow the strength of the army. According to journalist Alexis Sinduhige, the putschists relied on a corporal, Nzisabira, as an informant in the Presidential Guard.
The exact identity of those who planned and organised the 1993 coup remains disputed. Army Chief of the General Staff Lieutenant Colonel Jean Bikomagu, ex-President Jean-Baptiste Bagaza, and former Minister of Interior François Ngeze are generally regarded as leading members. Bikomagu and Bagaza denied any involvement, while Ngeze said he had been forced to support the putsch. Others believed to have played a key planning role include Lieutenant Colonel Ningaba, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Kazatasa, Lieutenant Colonel Laurent Niyonkuru, and Major Bernard Busokoza. Some human rights groups also suspected ex-President Buyoya of supporting the putschists. American diplomat Bob Krueger considered Buyoya to be the person chiefly responsible for the coup, as did Lieutenant Jean-Paul Kamana and Commandant Hilaire Ntakiyica, two soldiers who admitted to partaking in minor roles in the plot. Others suspected of involvement include Jérôme Sinduhije, Alphonse-Marie Kadege, Libère Bararunyestse, Pascal Simbanduku, Lieutenant Colonel Jean-Bosco Daradangwe, François Bizindavyi, Samuel Nduwingoma, Laurent Niyonkuru, UPRONA politician Charles Mukasi, Lieutenant Colonel Nzosaba, Lieutenant Colonel Ndayisaba, Lieutenant Colonel Niyoyunguruza, Lieutenant Colonel Maregarege, Lieutenant Colonel Nengeri, Lieutenant Colonel Pancrace Girukwigomba, Major Gervais Nimubona, Major Bukasa, Major Haziyo, Lieutenant Ntarataza, Lieutenant Ngomirakiza, Vincent Niyungeko, and George Mukarako. The role of foreign influences is unknown.
Prelude From 16 to 18 October 1993, Ndadaye attended a summit of francophone heads of state in Mauritius. He returned to Burundi on the last day. During that time, Chief of the General Staff of the Gendarmerie Lieutenant Colonel Epitace Bayaganakandi informed Minister of Defence Lieutenant Colonel Charles Ntakije that he was in the possession of reliable reports which indicated a coup was being planned. On 19 October, an army officer approached the wife of Minister of Communications Jean-Marie Ngendahayo and informed her that personnel in the army headquarters were plotting against the president. At 15:00 on 20 October, Major Isaïe Nibizi—commander of the 2nd Commando Battalion, commandant of Camp Muha, and the officer responsible for presidential security—informed Ndadaye's chef de cabinet about suspicious military movements.
Later that afternoon, Ndadaye hosted a cabinet meeting in Bujumbura to mark the first 100 days of his presidency (which had passed two days prior) and discuss what his government had accomplished in comparison to its campaign promises. After the meeting, Ngendahayo requested to speak in private with Ndadaye. In the president's office, Ngendahayo raised concerns about Ndadaye's safety. Instead of informing the president about the vague threat his wife had learned of, he told him that he felt it strange that UPRONA, the Tutsi-dominated opposition party, was denouncing the government's popular policy of allowing thousands of Burundian refugees to return to the country before the commune elections in December. Ngendahayo stated that he thought this would cost UPRONA the elections, and thus the only reason they would oppose the policy is if they planned to take power via assassination and a coup. He also requested that Ndadaye further consider a previous report declaring his security to be inadequate. Ndadaye instructed Ngendahayo to bring him Minister of Defence Ntakije. Ngendahayo found Ntakije in a separate room on a telephone call. Ambassador Melchior Ntamobwa, who was also present, told Ngendahayo that the colonel was being informed of a coup plot meant to move forward that night. Once Ntakije finished the call, he and Ngendahayo went to the president's office.