Emmanuel Sinzohagera

Bishop Emmanuel Sinzohagera is a pastor and politician who was elected Senator for Bujumbura Province, Burundi in July 2020. He was elected president of the Senate in August 2020 until 5 August 2025.

Background

Emmanuel Sinzohagera was born on 24 March 1974. He is a native of Bujumbura province. Bishop Emmanuel Sinzohagera became responsible for development within the National Council for the Defense of Democracy - Front for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD).

Senate leader Emmanuel Sinzohagera was indirectly elected to the Senate for Bujumbura Province on 20 July 2020 on the CNDD-FDD ticket. He was elected President of the Senate on 25 August 2020 in Gitega, the political capital of Burundi, by 38 out of 39 votes. He succeeded Révérien Ndikuriyo, from Makamba Province, who had been president since 2015.

In May 2023 Sinzohagera and Daniel Gélase Ndabirabe, speaker of the National Assembly, participated in a meeting of the presidents of the parliaments of East African Community (EAC) member countries, held in Arusha, Tanzania. They discussed the process of amending the treaty governing the EAC, which should be discussed by the EAC heads of states. They also discussed creation of a general secretariat of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) to help it collaborate with the national parliaments.

On 21 November 2023 Sinzohagera received a courtesy visit from Elisabetta Pietrobon, head of the European Union delegation to Burundi. This confirmed normalization of relations between the EU and Burundu, which had been ruptured in 2015. Pietrobon said the EU would support the government's development goals.

Church leader

In April 2024 Rev. Emmanuel Sinzohagera of the United Methodist Church's Burundi Conference attended the General Conference of the church in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. He spoke in favor of a plan that would allow different geographical regions such as North America and Africa to make their own rules about the ministry. He said "What matters in Africa may not necessarily matters to ... the U.S. church, and what matters to you as church may not necessarily matter to the African Church."