Burundi’s strongman dies months to retiring

Burundi's Pierre Nkurunziza bids farewell to his South African counterpart Jacob Zuma at the airport after an Africa Union-sponsored dialogue in an attempt to end months of violence in the capital Bujumbura on February 27, 2016. [Reuters]

The death of Burundi’s outgoing President Pierre Nkurunziza was announced late yesterday, barely months after a parliament, which pledged near total allegiance to him, voted to declare the 56-year-old Supreme Leader.

Unconfirmed reports said he died of heart attack, but observers have linked it to Covid-19 related complications on the backdrop of his and his country’s initial denial and eventual ignoring of the ongoing global pandemic.