Jean-Baptiste Bagaza

Jean-Baptiste Bagaza
2nd President of Burundi
In office
10 November 1976 – 3 September 1987
Prime Minister Édouard Nzambimana (1976–1978)
Preceded by Michel Micombero
Succeeded by Pierre Buyoya
Personal details
Born (1946-08-29)29 August 1946[1]
Rutovu, southern Urundi[2]
Died 4 May 2016(2016-05-04) (aged 69)
Brussels, Belgium
Political party Union for National Progress (UPRONA)

Colonel Jean-Baptiste Bagaza (29 August 1946 – 4 May 2016) was a Burundian politician who was Chairman of the Supreme Revolutionary Council in Burundi until November 10, 1976, and President from November 10, 1976 to September 3, 1987.

Early life and career

Bagaza attended a Roman Catholic school before enlisting in the army. In 1962, he went to Belgium to enroll in a military school before moving back to Burundi in 1971.[2] Upon returning to Burundi, Bagaza became the army's chief of staff assistant because of his family's relationship to Burundi's President Michel Micombero. Bagaza played a part in the 1972 genocide of Hutus, and was promoted to the military's chief of staff after the ending of the genocide.[2]

Presidency

In November 1976, Bagaza overthrew Micombero in a non-violent coup to become the next president of Burundi.[1] In the 1984 presidential election, he was reelected as Burundi's president with an almost unanimous vote of 99.6%.[3] After the election, Bagaza organized a military operation against the Roman Catholic Church.[2]

While traveling abroad in Quebec, Bagaza was deposed in a military coup d'état in September 1987.[1] He was replaced as president by Pierre Buyoya, and went into exile in Uganda. He later went to Libya, where he lived until 1993.[4]

Later life and death

From 1994 until his death, he led the Party for National Recovery (PARENA).[5] He was a Senator for life as a former head of state.[6][7] In 1997, Bagaza was arrested for gathering weapons for a plot against Buyoya.[2]

Bagaza died in Brussels, Belgium on 4 May 2016 at the age of 69 and was buried in Bujumbura on 17 May 2016.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Chan, Sewell (2016-05-04). "Jean-Baptiste Bagaza, Deposed Leader of a Troubled Burundi, Is Dead at 69". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Applah, Kwame Anthony; Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., eds. (2010). Encyclopedia of Africa, Volume 1 Abacha, Sani—Kilimanjaro. Oxford University Press. p. 146. ISBN 9780195337709. Retrieved 5 May 2016. Bagaza was born into a family of the ethnic Tutsi-Hima people in southern Urundi, now Burundi
  3. ↑ Brooke, James. "RULE BY MINORITY PERSISTS IN BURUNDI". nytimes.com. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  4. ↑ "Former Burundi president dies in Belgium". africanews.com. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  5. 1 2 "Burundi pays final tribute to former president Bagaza". allafrica.com. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  6. ↑ "POST TRANSITION SENATORS' LIST". senat.bi. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 12 November 2016.(French)
  7. ↑ "The Senate composition". senat.bi. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 12 November 2016.(French)
Political offices
Preceded by
Michel Micombero		 President of Burundi
1976–1987 		Succeeded by
Pierre Buyoya
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