VZCZCXYZ0003
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHJB #0413 1561052
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 051052Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY BUJUMBURA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0343
INFO RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUJUMBURA 000413 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/C 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/05/2017 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR BY
SUBJECT: BURUNDI: CHANGES IN PRESIDENT'S SENIOR STAFF 
 
REF: BUJUMBURA 025 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Patricia Moller for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D). 
 
¶1. (U) Burundi's President Nkurunziza announced on May 31 
changes in his two most senior staff positions.  The new 
Chief of Cabinet, Melchior Wagara, replaces Martin 
Mbazumutima.  The new Deputy Chief of Cabinet, Jean-Bosco 
Ndikumana, replaces Melchiade Nzopfabarushe, who left the 
position more than a month earlier to become Vice-President 
of Burundi's Anti-Corruption Brigade. 
 
 
New Chief of Cabinet 
-------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) New Chief of Cabinet Wagara's first position with 
the Government of Burundi (GOB) was with the National 
Social Security Institute (INSS) in 1994.  He was removed 
from his position in 1995, upon accusations of 
embezzlement.  Following his removal, Wagara became 
actively involved in the crisis gripping the country, when 
he "entered the bush" and joined the CNDD-FDD rebel 
movement. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Wagara's most recent appointment with the GOB was 
as General Director of COTEBU, Burundi's government-owned 
textile company, after the CNDD-FDD's victory in the 2005 
elections.  His tenure there (2005-early 2006) was marked 
by a series of general strikes, where company employees 
accused him of corruption and embezzlement.  He was 
eventually removed from his position by the Minister of 
Commerce (Madame Denise Sinankwa, currently the  Minister 
of Finance). 
 
 
New Deputy Chief of Cabinet 
--------------------------- 
 
 ¶4. (SBU) Jean-Bosco Ndikumana, the new Deputy Chief of 
Cabinet, most recently served in the GOB as the National 
Prosecutor.  Ndikumana unsuccessfully prosecuted the GOB's 
case against seven individuals, including former President 
Domitien Ndayizeye and former Vice-President Alphonse 
Kadege, who were alleged to have threatened state security 
by plotting to overthrow the government (Reftel). 
 
¶5. (C) Comment. Considering the new Chief of Cabinet's 
checkered background, it is unclear why the President chose 
him for such a high-profile, and important, position.  One 
Burundian observer suggested that President Nkurunziza's 
widely noted loyalty to former compatriots from his rebel 
years in the bush may partially explain his choice of 
Wagara as new Chief of Cabinet. He commented further that 
the Deputy Chief of Cabinet is, however, a position where 
"one hasn't the authority to cause much damage."   Perhaps, 
as this observer suggested, Ndikumana's new position could 
be interpreted as a demotion, following the government's 
flawed coup plotter trial (Reftel), where he can "do no 
further harm." End Comment. 
 
MOLLER