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Burundi Coup Leader’s Whereabouts Still Unknown, According To Former Vice President

When asked why the coup was unsuccessful, Bamvuginyumvira said that the Maj. General had only announced the coup over radio, and was not able to assemble an actual military siege on President Nkurunziza.

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During SaharaTV interview with Frederic Bamvuginyumvira, the former Burundian Vice President, it was revealed that the whereabouts of Major General Godefroid Niyombare are not known.

Bamvuginyumvira said, “we don’t know exactly where he [Maj. General Niyombare] is, he may have been killed, maybe he escaped from Burundi, nobody knows where he is.”

When asked why the coup was unsuccessful, Bamvuginyumvira said that the Maj. General had only announced the coup over radio, and was not able to assemble an actual military siege on President Nkurunziza.

Even though Maj. General Niyombare made announcements on radio, Bamvuginyumvira said that many did not receive the message because “there is no radio station in the country. They have all been banned. We don’t know exactly who did that.” Many people were not able to hear the cries claiming that the government had been toppled.

“It is not easy to do an elections campaign when you don’t have any radio to report what you are doing on the ground. There is only the public radio. But the public radio is only being used by the President of the Republic.”

Bamvuginyumvira also told SaharaReporters at least 102,000 refugees have fled the country. People in the north of Burundi are leaving the country for Rwanda, Congo, Tanzania, and Zambia. He doesn’t know what measures are being taken to accomadate.

When asked what his advice would be for the current president, Bamvuginyumvira said, “The message for him from myself is that he must understand that when you are in power you must quit it one day.”

“Maybe the message is to use the example of Mandela, who ran the country [South Africa] for only one term.”

The latest reports coming from Burundi say that Major General Godefroid Niyombare is at large, but that the Nkurunziza government is actively hunting him. The two co-conspirators of the Maj. General have been arrested, including the former Defence Minister Cyrille Ndayirukiye.

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Military