Burundi’s former intelligence chief claims to have dismissed the country’s president, Pierre Nkurunziza, whose bid for a third term in office has sparked violent unrest that has left at least 20 people dead and forced more than 50,000 to flee the country.
Major General Godefroid Niyombare, who was fired by Nkurunziza as intelligence chief three months ago, told reporters at a military barracks in the capital, Bujumbura, that he was working with civil society groups, religious leaders and politicians to form a transitional government.
“Regarding President Nkurunziza’s arrogance and defiance of the international community, which advised him to respect the constitution and Arusha peace agreement, the committee for the establishment of the national concord decide President Nkurunziza is dismissed. His government is dismissed too,” he told Reuters. Niyombare’s remarks were later broadcast on local radio stations.
As news of his claim spread, thousands came on to the streets of Bujumbura to celebrate the coup attempt and police were reported to have left their posts – but it remained unclear if Niyombare had the backing of the army, which has acted as a buffer between police and protesters.
Nkurunziza’s official Twitter feed denied there had been a coup.
The claim of a coup was earlier dismissed as “a joke” by one of the president’s advisers.
Nkurunziza was scheduled to join other east African leaders from Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda at a special meeting in Tanzania’s capital, Dar es Salaam, on Wednesday to discuss the unrest.
Hundreds of civilians marched towards state radio and television stations on Wednesday, and the influential African Public Radio – which has been shut down at the start of the protests – was back on air.
Troops surrounded the national radio station, but it was not immediately clear to whom they were loyal.
“Don’t shoot at civilians. Shoot in the air. Shoot at military targets, not civilians. We have to protect the state TV and radio,” an army colonel was heard ordering soldiers protecting the facility.
Earlier, police fired tear gas and water cannon to repulse protesters trying to enter the central business district in Bujumbura. One police officer fired on demonstrators. The number of casualties, if any, is unknown.
The South African government said it was monitoring the situation in Burundi closely and added that it was too soon to say whether a coup had taken place.
The protests began on 25 April after the ruling party nominated Nkurunziza to run for re-election in a vote due next month. His opponents argue the move is a clear violation of the constitution, which limits a president to two terms in office.
The violence has plunged Burundi into its worst crisis since the end of its 12-year civil war in 2006. That conflict, between ethnic Tutsis and Hutus, left around 300,000 people dead.
Nkurunziza, a former rebel leader from the Hutu majority, has so far defied international pressure to withdraw from the election. A constitutional court has ruled that the president can run because his first term – for which he was picked by parliament rather than elected by popular vote – does not count. Critics say the court is biased.
The crackdown on protests has drawn rebukes from many of the western nations that provide the aid on which Burundi relies for half its budget. European states are the biggest contributors, while the US provides support to the army.
Dawn Liberi, the US ambassador to Burundi, told a meeting of the government and diplomats on Monday: “We call for an immediate end to the use of violent force by police against peaceful protests and the political intimidation, threats and violence by all armed militia.”
The US has said it is worried about reports that the Imbonerakure, the youth wing of Nkurunziza’s CNDD-FDD party, had been armed, an allegation the government denies.
The EU is withholding €2m (£1.4m) of aid to Burundi amid increasing concern over the government’s violent crackdown. The EU envoy to Africa’s Great Lakes region, Koen Vervaeke, said the union had disbursed €6m of the €8m designated for elections, but had decided to withhold the rest until Nkurunziza heeded calls for a transparent poll.
“Today it is out of the question to release the €2m unless conditions for a free, peaceful and credible election are secured,” he told a news conference in Bujumbura on Monday.
Belgium, Burundi’s former colonial power, has announced a suspension of electoral aid, opting to withhold half of the €4m it had set aside for the polls, and said it would pull out of a €5m police cooperation deal funded jointly with the Netherlands. Police in Burundi have been accused of using live rounds on protesters, as well as teargas and water cannon – a charge they deny.
On Monday the Burundian foreign minister, Laurent Kavakure, said the government was already taking steps to improve the situation, adding: “We are determined to create the conditions for free, transparent and peaceful elections.”
More than 50,000 people have fled Burundi since early April, at least half of whom have gone to Rwanda, according to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. Almost 18,000 have fled to Tanzania and 8,000 to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Some of the refugees now arriving in Rwanda say they are running from the Imbonerakure.
“The Imbonerakure came to our neighbourhood to say that those who were against the third term of President Nkurunziza were going to die. That’s why I left,” Eric Ahishakiye, a 23-year-old mechanic, told AFP.
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