Révérien Ndikuriyo is a Burundian politician, currently serving as secretary-general of the

National Council for the Defense of Democracy – Forces for the Defense of Democracy The National Council for the Defense of DemocracyForces for the Defense of Democracy (french: Conseil National Pour la Défense de la DémocratieForces pour la Défense de la Démocratie, CNDD–FDD) is the major political party in Burundi. Duri ...

(CNDD-FDD), a position he has held since 2021. From 2015 to 2020, he served as

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of the Senate. He has also served as president of the

Football Federation of Burundi The Football Federation of Burundi (french: Fédération de football du Burundi, FFB) is the governing body of football in Burundi. It was founded in 1962, affiliated to FIFA in 1972 and to CAF in 1972. It organizes the national football leag ...

since 2013.

Personal life

Ndikuriyo was in 1970 in Kayogoro,

Makamba Province Makamba Province is the southernmost province of Burundi. The province has a population of 430,899 (2008 census) and covers an area of 1,960 km. The provincial capital is Makamba. Makamba has six communes, many refugees have returned fro ...

. He studied science at the

University of Burundi The University of Burundi (french: Université du Burundi, or UB) is a public university located in Bujumbura, Burundi. Founded in 1964, it comprises eight faculties and five institutes and has a student enrollment of approximately 13,000. It is ...

between 1992 and 1995. He is married and has six children. He is

Hutu The Hutu (), also known as the Abahutu, are a Bantu ethnic or social group which is native to the African Great Lakes region. They mainly live in Rwanda, Burundi and the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where they form one of the p ...

Political career

After graduating, during the

Burundian Civil War The Burundian Civil War was a civil war in Burundi lasting from 1993 to 2005. The civil war was the result of longstanding Ethnic conflict, ethnic divisions between the Hutu and the Tutsi ethnic groups. The conflict began following the first Mult ...

, Ndikuriyo fought as a rebel with the CNDD-FDD until 2004. From 2004 to 2007, he served as

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

. He then served as a member of the

Assemblée nationale The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are know ...

between 2007 and 2010. During his time as an MP, he served as chair of Administrative and Diplomatic Committee. In 2010, he was elected as a senator.

Senate presidency

On 14 August 2015, following the

2015 Burundian legislative election Parliamentary elections were held in Burundi on 29 June 2015. The vote had been initially set for 5 June 2015, alongside local elections, but it was delayed due to unrest.Clement Manirabarusha"Burundi says has delayed elections amid prolonged pr ...

, he was unanimously elected as president of the Senate. In late-October 2015, as unrest flared in Burundi, Ndikuriyo gave a controversial speech calling for supporters of President

Pierre Nkurunziza Pierre Nkurunziza (18 December 19648 June 2020) was a Burundian politician who served as the ninth president of Burundi for almost 15 years from August 2005 until his death in June 2020. A member of the Hutu ethnic group, Nkurunziza taught ph ...

to "pulverise" the opposition. In the speech, he further used terms that carried connotations of the Hutu Power militias during the

Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed H ...

. In 2017, in a visit to the Imbonerakure in

Gitega Province Gitega is one of the 18 provinces of Burundi. Its capital is Gitega, which is also the national capital. It has a population of 725,223 as of 2008 and an area of . History After Burundi attained full independence on 1 July 1962, there was a mil ...

, he claimed that Burundi's future depended on the youth wing and that it needed to prepare itself to resist a Rwandan takeover of the country. In September 2019, a recording was leaked in which Ndikuriyo claimed to have paid mercenaries 5 million

Burundian franc The franc (ISO 4217 code is BIF) is the currency of Burundi. It is nominally subdivided into 100 ''centimes'', although coins have never been issued in centimes since Burundi began issuing its own currency. Only during the period when Burundi used ...

s to assassinate a man called "Kaburimbo" in Bururi Province. In the recording, Ndikuriyo claimed that the man posed a security threat to the country.

CNDD-FDD secretary-general

In January 2021, Ndikuriyo was named secretary-general of the CNDD-FDD, replacing

Évariste Ndayishimiye General Évariste Ndayishimiye (born 1968) is a Burundian politician who has served as President of Burundi since 18 June 2020. He became involved in the rebel National Council for the Defense of Democracy – Forces for the Defense of Democrac ...

. In August 2022, he gave a controversial speech at an event commemorating

Adolphe Nshimirimana Adolphe Nshimirimana (September 12, 1964 – August 2, 2015) was a Burundian military general who served as army chief of staff, as well as a senior presidential adviser for internal security and close political ally of President Pierre Nkurun ...

in which he attacked international human rights groups and boasted that he was undertaking a strategy to militarise the Imbonerakure, the CNDD-FDD's youth wing.

Football

Ndikuriyo founded and directed the ''Aigle noir'' de Makamba association football club. In November 2013, he was elected president of the Fédération de football du Burundi. He was re-elected to a second term as president in October 2017.

References

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ndikuriyo, Reverien Presidents of the Senate (Burundi) Burundian politicians Living people 1970 births