Évariste Ndayishimiye

Évariste Ndayishimiye (born 17 June 1968) is a Burundian general and politician who has served as the tenth President of Burundi since 18 June 2020 and as the chairperson of the African Union since February 2026. He became involved in the rebel National Council for the Defense of Democracy – Forces for the Defense of Democracy during the Burundian Civil War and rose up the ranks of its militia. At the end of the conflict, he entered the Burundian Army and held a number of political offices under the auspices of President Pierre Nkurunziza. Nkurunziza endorsed Ndayishimiye as his successor ahead of the 2020 elections which he won with a large majority.

Biography

Évariste Ndayishimiye was born on 17 June 1968 at Musama, Kabanga Zone in Giheta, Gitega Province in Burundi. He is reported to be a "fervent" Catholic. He began studies in law at the University of Burundi (UB) but was still studying in 1995 when Hutu students were massacred as part of the inter-ethnic violence which accompanied the Burundian Civil War (1993–2005). He fled and joined the moderate rebel National Council for the Defense of Democracy – Forces for the Defense of Democracy (Conseil National Pour la Défense de la Démocratie – Forces pour la Défense de la Démocratie, CNDD–FDD) which drew its support predominantly from ethnic Hutu. Rising up the ranks of the group during the civil war, he presided over its militia and military activities. He gained the nickname "Neva". Alongside his office, he studied at Wisdom University of Africa and gained a degree in 2014. He also chaired the Burundi National Olympic Committee for much of this period. It had been reported that Nkurunziza "wanted to run the country from behind the scenes", using Ndayishimiye as a puppet ruler after his resignation. However, it was also noted that Ndayishimiye may have been chosen as a compromise between Nkurunziza and other CNDD–FDD "generals" determined to ensure that a Civil War veteran retained control. Ndayishimiye was "not associated with the worst abuses" under Nkurunziza and was reported to be the most "open" and "honest" candidate within the CNDD–FDD.

Ndayishimiye won elections held in May 2020, winning 68 percent of the national vote. However, the fairness of the poll was widely questioned and it occurred in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic in Burundi. Nkurunziza died unexpectedly on 8 June 2020. Since Ndayishimiye had already won the elections, the Constitutional Court accelerated his inauguration as president. He was installed at a ceremony in Gitega on 18 June 2020, two months ahead of schedule. Ndayishimiye's tenure has been noted to have been less isolationist than his predecessor Nkurunziza's, with Ndayishimiye having made four state visits, including a five-day trip to Equatorial Guinea, and also accommodated a state visit by the President of Ethiopia during his first ten months in office.

Initially, Ndayishimiye was more active than his predecessor in pursuing a stronger response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He called the virus the nation's "worst enemy" shortly after taking office. In January 2021, he closed national borders, having previously issued a statement which said that anyone bringing COVID-19 into Burundi would be treated as "people bringing weapons to kill Burundians". However, in October 2021, the Burundian government announced that it had received delivery of 500,000 doses of the Chinese Sinopharm BIBP vaccine.

In December 2022, he attended the United States–Africa Leaders Summit 2022 in Washington, D.C. hosted by US President Joe Biden.

In July 2023, he attended the 2023 Russia–Africa Summit in Saint Petersburg and met with President of Russia Vladimir Putin. In the same month, he attended the opening ceremony of the 2021 Summer World University Games held in Chengdu, China, where on the sidelines of it, he met with General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping.

In December 2023, responding to a reporter's question on Western countries pushing for LGBT rights to be respected, Ndayishimiye stated the homosexuals should be stoned en masse, and that to do so would not be a crime. In August 2024, in an Amnesty International report, Amnesty International denounced acts of “intimidation, harassment, arbitrary arrests and detentions” targeting activists, journalists and others by the government of Évariste Ndayishimiye. Since 2024 he advocates for private and foreign investment in the tourism branch.

On 17 July 2025, Ndayishimiye was designated by the African Union as its special envoy to the Sahel region.

In February 2026, during the 39th Ordinary Session of the African Union Assembly in Addis Ababa, Ndayishimiye was elected Chairperson for the year 2026.