BURUNDI PRESIDENT BEING ADVISED BY HIGH-LEVEL

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUJUMBURA 000574 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/C E.O. 12958: DECL: 2017/08/16 TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL BY SUBJECT: BURUNDI PRESIDENT BEING ADVISED BY HIGH-LEVEL MILITARY QUARTET Classified By: Ambassador Patricia Moller for reasons 1.4b and d. ¶1. (C) Members of Burundi's political and civil society are consistently suggesting that President Pierre Nkurunziza is being manipulated by a small group of advisors who are strongly connected to the military wing of Nkurunziza's ruling CNDD-FDD party. Embassy officers have been told by well-connected contacts that this group includes Evariste Ndayishimiye, the Minister of the Interior; Adolphe Nshimirimana, the head of Burundi's National Intelligence Services (SNR); Godefroid Niyombare, the Deputy Army Chief of Staff; and Alain Guillaume Bunyoni, the Director General of the National Police. The current political malaise which threatens Burundi's economic and social stability, and is said by political observers to be exacerbated by Nkurunziza's complacency, is partially blamed on the 'bad' advice being imposed upon the Burundi leader by these men. Neither the motive for their counsel nor Nkurunziza's reasons for allegiance to this group are known at this time. ¶2. (C) Brigadier General Ndayishimiye joined the CNDD-FDD rebel movement in 1995. He has held many influential positions within the CNDD-FDD movement as the leader of the CNDD-FDD commission that negotiated the cease-fire and power-sharing agreement in 2006, and lead the CNDD-FDD delegation to the Joint Cease-fire Commission. Ndayishimiye was appointed Minister of the Interior on March 17, 2006 after previously holding the position of Procurement and Logistics Officer at the headquarters of the Burundian Defense Force. ¶3. (C) Nshimirimana went into the bush as a rebel after the 1993 assassination of former President Ndadaye. Between 1995 and 2001 Nshimirimana served as the chief of staff of the FDD rebels. He emerged from the bush in 2003 and was appointed Deputy Army Chief of Staff with the rank of Brigadier General. Nshimirimana was named to lead the SNR on August 29, 2005. ¶4. (C) Major General Niyombare was appointed the Deputy Army Chief of Staff on September 1, 2005. ¶5. (C) Bunyoni was a member of the FDD rebels and was appointed Director of Military Soil and Infrastructure in April 2005. He was appointed to his present position as the head of the national police in January 2006. He holds the rank of Brigadier General. MOLLER