Artémon Simbananiye

Artémon Simbananiye (1935 – 22 July 2024) was a Burundian politician.

Early life Artémon Simbananiye was born in 1935 in Bihanga, a settlement near Matana in Bururi Province, Ruanda-Urundi. Ethnically, he was a part of the Babanda clan of the Tutsi-Hima group. On 6 December he was appointed Minister of Justice, whilst still holding the office of Procureur Général. In March 1967 the responsibility for the Sûreté Nationale and immigration services was added to his ministerial portfolio. He and Sûreté Director Albert Shibura exercised extensive influence upon the Micombero regime's internal politics, and he arranged for fellow Matana Tutsis to receive high postings in the government, the Burundi National Army, and UPRONA. Viewed by Micombero with suspicion as a political threat, in October 1967 he was stripped of his offices during a political purge. On 4 November he was arrested and incarcerated at a prison in Muyinga Province for allegedly embezzling state funds.

Despite his initially tenuous position under Micombero, Simbananiye rose to become a key member of the Groupe de Bururi, a coterie of officials in the regime that hailed from the same province and sought to consolidate their own power. In 1971 he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs and filled the ministry posts with mostly southerners. In July he helped organise a purge of Tutsi-Banyaruguru from the government. The Tutsi-Banyaruguru hailed from the north of the country and were viewed as rivals by the Groupe de Bururi. When they were put on trial for allegedly plotting to kill the president, Simbananiye summoned one of their main defence attorneys to accompany him on a foreign trip, preventing the lawyer from participating in most of the proceedings. Several of the accused were found guilty and sentenced to death and life imprisonment in January 1972, though Micombero quickly commuted the sentences and released most of convicted.

Later life In 1987 Simbananiye left Burundi and went into exile. He returned several years later, proclaiming himself to be a born again Christian. He died on 22 July 2024 in Kigali.