AfricaPress-Tanzania: PRESIDENT John Magufuli yesterday commended Burundi President-elect Mr Evariste Ndayishimiye following the country’s top court decision aimed at ending the power vacuum created by the sudden death of President on Monday.
The Constitutional Court in the East African nation held that Mr President-elect Ndayishimiye needed to be sworn in as soon as possible.
Burundi’s top judges said that in the constitution, the interim period under the speaker of parliament was designed as a time to hold fresh elections, but the president-elect’s recent victory made this unnecessary.
Mr Nkurunziza had been able to run for a fourth term in last month’s election but decided to retire and was to be known as the “Supreme guide to patriotism”.
In a telephone conversation, Dr Magufuli wished the President-elect all the best as he assumes the country’s top most office.
Dr Magufuli also assured Mr Ndayishimiye that the two East African neighbours would continue to cooperate in strengthening their historical and diplomatic ties.
The President requested Mr Ndayishimiye to convey to the people of Burundi his heartfelt condolences following the death of Mr Nkurunziza, who died of a heart attack aged 55.
Meanwhile, Dr Magufuli has declared three days of mourning in honour of the fallen leader with effect from yesterday.
All flags started flying at half-mast yesterday until Monday as Tanzanians join their neighbours in mourning the former leader, the President directed.
The rare gesture, according to Dr Magufuli, symbolizes the respect Tanzanians had for the leader who was a dominant figure in Burundi’s politics over the last 26 years.
“Burundi is fellow EAC member and Mr Nkurunziza harboured an unconditional love for Tanzania, which is attested by his closeness to this country,” said Dr Magufuli through a statement released by the Presidential Communication Directorate released yesterday.
Mr Nkurunziza is viewed as a pan-Africanist by his East African Community (EAC) peers.
He will, within the EAC bloc, be remembered as a leader who advocated for use of the English language in the Francophone state as part of his efforts to speed up cultural integration with other EAC members.
He came to power at the end of Burundi’s 12-year civil war.
A former sports teacher at a university, Nkurunziza was a lifelong fitness and football enthusiast and an evangelical Christian.
He lost his father, a civil servant, during mass killings of ethnic Hutus by the majority Tutsi army in 1972.
He frequently spoke about the misery his family suffered after his father’s death.
