Key historical and constitutional developments in Burundi

1860 April:  Cyilima started a rebellion against King Mwezi Gisabo opening up Burundi to the German invasion.

1888: The Germans conquered Burundi.

1890 July 1: Burundi became part of German East Africa.

1924 October 20: Rwanda and Burundi became a Belgian League of Nations mandate territory known as Ruanda-Urundi.

1948: Belgium allowed the region to form political parties.

1959 January 20: Burundi's ruler Mwami Mwambutsa IV requested the Belgian Minister of Colonies for a separation of Burundi and Rwanda and dissolution of Ruanda-Urundi.

1959 August: Political parties were formed and the Union for National Progress (UPRONA) led by Prince Louis Rwagasore was the first of these parties.

1961 September 18:  Elections were held to determine the ruling party ahead of independence. UPRONA won 58 of 64 seats in Parliament.

1961 October 13: The presidential candidate of UPRONA Prince Rwagasore was assassinated.

1962 July 1: Burundi got its independence and legally changed its name from Ruanda-Urundi to Burundi. Mwami Mwambutsa IV a Tutsi aristocrat was named king.

1962 September 18: Burundi joined the United Nations.

1962 October 16: The first constitution was promulgated with a parliamentary monarchy political system.

1965: Hutu Prime Minister, Pierre Ngendandumwe was assassinated and the Hutus engaged in a series of attacks on Tutsi.

1966: King Mwambutsa was deposed by his son, Prince Ntare V, who claimed the throne.

1966  November 28: Tutsi army captain and Prime Minister Captain Michel Micombero deposed Prince Ntare in the first successful coup. He abolished the constitutional monarchy and declared Burundi a republic with himself as the president, creating a defacto military state.

1972:  A rebellion started by a Hutu organization known as Umugambwe w'Abakozi b'Uburundi or Burundi Workers' Party (UBU) erupted in rural Burundi.  The Hutu-led insurrection broke out in Rumonge and Nyanza where a large number of Tutsis were killed. The ruling President Micombero retaliated by ordering an attack to purge the rebels but which resulted into a state organized killing of Hutus.  An estimated 300, 000 people are believed to have been killed.   

1976 November:  A Tutsi, Colonel Jean-Baptiste Bagaza, led a successful military coup ending the military reign of Captain Michel Micombero.

1981: A new constitution was endorsed by a popular referendum and Burundi became a one-party state.

1984 August: Bagaza was elected head of state with 99% of the vote in a one man race.

1987 September: Major Pierre Buyoya, a Tutsi, overthrew Bagaza, suspended the constitution, dissolved political parties, and reinstated military rule under the Military Committee for National Salvation (CSMN).

1988 August: Anti-Tutsi ethnic propaganda was disseminated by the remnants of the 1972 UBU, which had re-organized as Party for the Liberation of the Hutu People (PALIPEHUTU) in 1981; this led to the killings of Tutsi peasants in the northern communes of Ntega and Marangara.

1991 February) A Charter of National Unity was adopted and the issue of ethnic factionalism openly debated.

1992 March: A new constitution was endorsed in a national referendum that provided for a multi-party system of governance. However, it was rejected by PALIPEHUTU.

1993 June: Burundi witnessed its first democratically elected President, Melchior Ndadaye, leader of the Hutu-dominated Front for Democracy in Burundi/“Front Pour la Democratie au Burundi” (FRODEBU). He was the first Hutu head of the state.

1993 October: Tutsi soldiers assassinated Ndadaye, which started further years of violence between Hutus and Tutsis.

1994 January: The National Assembly amended the Constitution to enable it elect a Hutu, Cyprien Ntaryamira as President. Amidst immense debate and overriding of rulings of the Tutsi dominated constitutional court, Cyprien Ntaryamira was elected to the office of president.

1994 April 6: Cyprien Ntaryamira and the president of Rwanda Juvenal Habyarimana were assassinated when their airplane was shot down near Kigali Airport.

1994 October: Parliament speaker, Sylvestre Ntibantunganya another Hutu, was appointed as president.

1995: African leaders began a series of peace talks between the warring factions these talks were initiated under the guidance of former Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere.

1996 July 25: Ntibantunganya was forced into exile when Pierre Buyoya, a Tutsi under UPRONA took power through a coup d’état and suspended the constitution.

1996 July: Countries in the region imposed an economic embargo against Burundi. The blockade was designed to force Major Buyoya to restore constitutional order and negotiate with the rebels.

1998 May:  Major Buyoya decided to engage the internal wing of the ousted FRODEBU in negotiations which resulted into a new power sharing agreement.

1998 June 6:  An interim Constitution was adopted legitimizing Buyoya’s rule, FRODEBU members were included in the government. The National Assembly was expanded to incorporate opposition parties and a three-year transition to civilian rule was announced.

1999 January 24: Leaders from East and Central Africa agreed to suspend the imposed sanctions in an effort to force the country's Tutsi-led military government to talk peace with its Hutu opponents and return Burundi to constitutional rule.

2000 August 28:  The Arusha Peace and Reconciliation agreement was signed by 13 of the 19 parties, but six outstanding Tutsi hard-line parties were pressured into agreement on 20th September.  Two major rebel groups, the National Council for the Defense of Democracy–Forces for the Defense of Democracy /“Conseil National Pour la Défense de la Démocratie–Forces pour la Defense de la Démocratie” (CNDD-FDD) and the PALIPEHUTU ( also known as National Liberation Forces FNL), still remained outside the peace process. A transitional government for Burundi was planned as a part of the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement.

2001: A peace plan and power sharing agreement was signed between UPRONA and FROBEDU.

2001 November 1:  Pierre Buyoya became president of the Transitional government.

2003 November 15:  A cease-fire was signed between Buyoya's government and the largest Hutu rebel group, CNDD-FDD. FRODEBU leader Domitien Ndayizeye replaced Buyoya as President. PALIPEHUTU (FNL) an extreme Hutu group, continued to refuse negotiations.

2004 May 21:  The United Nations Security Council unanimously approved to deploy up to 5,650 military personnel to help Burundi with restoring peace and bringing about national reconciliation.

2004 June 1: UN took over the African peacekeeping force in Burundi.

2004 September:  The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was created.

2004 September, 17:  Lawmakers agreed unanimously to a new draft constitution. But Jean Baptiste Manwangari UPRONA party chairman and his Tutsis-dominated party rejected it. 

2004 October, 20:  The interim constitution was ratified by the Parliament with 197 votes. 74 delegates (from the Tutsi parties) were absent.
 
2004 October, 31: Six Tutsi-dominated parties dropped their opposition to the country's interim constitution ending the danger of a constitutional crisis.

2005 January: A legislation to create a new national army incorporating all the rebel and government forces was put in place.

2005 February 28: The country's first democratic poll in 12 years took place. An overwhelming majority voted for the post-transitional Constitution (90.1% of the 2.89 million Burundians that voted polled "Yes".)

2005 May: A cease-fire was finally agreed upon between FNL and the Burundian government, though fighting continued.

2005 July 4: The National Assembly elections were held; CNDD-FDD won 59 of the 100 seats with 58% of the vote.

2005 August, 16: The first female speaker of the National Assembly - Nahayo Immaculeé was elected.

2005 August, 19: Pierre Nkurunziza, leader of CNDD-FDD was elected president by Parliament.

2005 February 28: A constitutional referendum was held.

2006 September, 7: The government and the country's last rebel group FNL signed a full cease-fire agreement ending 12 years of civil war.

2006 September: The Second Vice President Alice Nzomukunda resigned on grounds of disrespect for the law, mismanagement of funds and violation of human rights in the country.

2007 June 18: Burundi signed the East African Community Treaty (EAC). 

2007 July, 1: Burundi became a member of the EAC

2007 November: The first vice president, Martin Nduwimana resigned.

2008: Talks between the Burundian government and the Hutu-led PALIPEHUTU-National Liberation Forces (FLN) to bring peace to the country commenced.

2008 April 17: FLN bombarded Bujumbura.

2008 May 26: A new ceasefire was signed between the government of Burundi and FNL to end the 15 years civil war.

2008 July 6: Agathon Rwasa FLN leader called for a referendum on Burundi's constitution, stating that it had shortcomings and needed to be changed.

2008 August:  President Nkurunziza met with the FLN leader Agathon Rwasa, with the mediation of Charles Nqakula, South Africa’s Minister for Safety and Security to establish a commission to resolve any disputes that could arise during the peace negotiations.

2008 December 5: A peace agreement to end conflicts in the country was signed by the Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza and PALIPEHUTU Federation for National Liberation (FNL) rebel movement.

2009 April 22: FNL was accredited as a political party. The certification of the FNL was followed by the separation and formal disarmament of its armed wing, including the removal of the children associated with the group.

2010 May 1: Burundi ratified the East African Common Market protocol.

2010 May 21: Human Rights Watch researcher Neela Ghoshal was expelled from the country a few days to the national elections following the publication of a Human Rights Watch report on pre-election violence.

2010 May 24: Communal Elections were held.

2010 May 25:  Eight opposition parties signed a declaration claiming that the communal elections were marred by extensive fraud.

2010 June 1: Five opposition candidates some of which were from FNL, FRODEBU and CNDD, pulled out of the presidential elections and announced a boycott.

2010 June 8: Interior Minister Edouard Nduwimana imposed a ban on all opposition party meetings and activities.

2010 June 28: National elections were held.  Nkurunziza was re-elected in a one man race after the opposition’s boycott over allegations of rigging in communal elections on the 21 of May. Three grenade attacks apparently caused by the opposition happened in the capital Bujumbura and two in the North of the country on the voting day.

2010 June: Opposition leader Agathon Rwasa went into hiding following elections after allegedly hearing that the government wanted to arrest him on charges of starting a new insurgency in Burundi.

2010 May- July:  242 people from the opposition ranks were arrested. These detentions were allegedly outside prescribed procedures of law and accompanied by torture.

2010 July 17:  A journalist, Jean Claude Kavumbagu’s arrest was ordered by the Bujumbura prosecutor Rénovat Tabu for publishing an article that questioned the ability of Burundian security forces to protect the country from terror attacks. Four months later, he was still in pre trial detention.

2010 July 23: Parliamentary elections were held. The ruling party CNDD-FDD scored 81 seats in the 106-seat parliament.  UPRONA opposition party obtained 17 seats while FRODEBU got five. The remaining three seats went to three people from the Twa ethnic community.

2010 August 10:  A journalist Thierry Ndayishimiye was arrested  by the prosecutor’s office in connection with an article criticizing corruption at the state owned energy company.

2010 August 26: A former police officer Jackson Ndikuriyo, who had denounced police corruption, was shot dead. Police claimed he had been a victim of an ambush, though witnesses claimed police killed him.

2010 September: Twenty bodies were found in Rusizi River where most of the victims were linked to FNL. This led to public and civil society suspicions of extra judicial executions. The General prosecutor set up a board of inquiry in the matter but no results have been produced yet.

2010 September 17: Police prevented the Political Parties’ Coalition from holding a press conference. The interior minister also announced that political parties were not allowed to function outside the election period.

2010 September 21: The Burundi government wrote to the UN Human Rights Council to prevent the Independent Expert on the Situation of Human Rights in Burundi from delivering a report.

2011 May 5: The senate endorsed a new law on political parties that requires party leaders to prove their residence in Burundi and necessitates a party to have more members from the entire country than previously required to participate in an election.

2011 May: Gunmen opened fire on a restaurant in Bujumbura next to a local branch of the ruling party killing four people.

2011 July 27: Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza announced that a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to probe decades of ethnic killings in Burundi would be set up in early 2012.

2011 September: Gunmen opened fire at a bar in Gathumba leaving 36 people dead.

2011 October: President Nkurunziza announced that the government would find the perpetrators of the September 2011 Gathumba attacks that left 36 people dead. By end of the month, 20 people were in pre-trial detention in connection with these attacks.

2011 November: Rights groups reported the death of 300 people in the past five months including opposition party members/ mostly of former FNL rebel group (National Liberation Forces).