Burundi president denies ousted general’s coup claims

Crowds celebrates in Burundi’s streets after an ousted army general said he had sacked Pierre Nkurunziza as president for seeking an unconstitutional third term in office. The presidential office quickly rubbished the declaration by Major General Godefroid Niyombare, who was fired by Nkurunziza as intelligence chief in February. Niyombare made his declaration to reporters at a military barracks in Bujumbura, while the president was out of the country at an African summit on the crisis.

We consider it as a joke not as a military coup.

Presidential aide Willy Niyamitwe

Niyombare, also a former ambassador to Kenya, was surrounded by several other senior officers in the army and police when he made the announcement, including a former defense minister. More than 20 people have been killed since street protests erupted in the impoverished central African state more than two weeks ago, according to an unofficial count by activists. The demonstrators say Nkurunziza’s bid for another five years in office violates a two-term limit in the constitution and the Arusha peace deal, which ended an ethnically fueled civil war in 2005 that killed 300,000 people.

Africa Burundi