Burundi’s constitutional court has agreed that president-elect, Evariste Ndayishimiye should be sworn in immediately following the death of former leader Pierre Nkurunziza, the government said in a statement posted to Twitter on Friday.
The constitution provides for the speaker of parliament to take over in such a situation. The court ruled, however, that “the interim period is not necessary and that … Ndayishimiye must be sworn in as soon as possible”, the government said.
It could be recalled that President Nkurunziza, passed on last week, three months before he was due to step down for the new President to be sworn in. He had stayed in power for 15 years. Presently the country has declared a week of national mourning for a man who left behind a detestable legacy of suppressing political opponents, censorship, and carrying out all kinds of human rights abuses.
