For close to a decade, a prominent Burundian national based in Belgium has been fighting to cause regime change back home.
Liaising with mostly Belgians, Mr. Pacifique Nininahazwe a strong critic of President Pierre Nkurunziza staged resistance through raising numerous accusations of torture, murder and gross human rights violations against the government.
He owns an association, FOCODE through which he rallies masses in and out of the country to rise up against Nkurunziza’s government.
However, this organization was banned in Burundi because of its implications in the attempted military coup of May 13, 2015.
Pacifique is among the ‘disenchanted’ activists associating with families which previously held powerful positions in government but misused their authority by marginalizing the majority Hutu populations by denying them educations and basic human rights.
Ndondeza Crusade
The Belgians who have for long worked to destabilize Burundi accommodated Pacifique when he sought sanctuary around 2015.
“Since then he has been travelling across the globe looking for allies to topple Nkurunziza,” an official in Bujumbura told this website on Tuesday morning.
Bujumbura further links Mr. Pacifique to a neighboring country that has for long planned to ignite war.
In 2016, a year after an immense political crisis erupted in Burundi, Pacifique with the help of Belgians started a campaign, Ndondeza, a Kirundi Phrase meaning “Help Me Find.”
Ndondeza crusade was aiming at tracing all Burundians who are allegedly captured and tortured by the state as a means of exposing Nkurunziza’s misdeeds.
Pacifique and his cohorts claimed that the regime opened underground torture chambers where they unleashed ‘terror’ unto the Burundian people.
To prove their assertions several videos were finding ways to top international media broadcasters showing how the locals opposed to Nkurunziza were subjected to grave torture.
“Videos of men and women with deep cuts, broken limbs others maltreated were circulated on internet to portray Nkurunziza and his government as torturous,” said an agent of Pacifique who told local media recently.
The intent was to hoodwink the West into toppling Nkurunziza.
But Burundi kept its stand dismissing Pacifque’s machinations as a plan to cast the government in bad light.
Whereas most Foreign Countries later concurred to allow Burundi its sovereignty to rule its people, Belgium which harbours many opponents wasn’t about to give up.
New Twist
Last week it emerged that Pacifique was pivotal in masterminding crimes against humanity in Burundi.
A section of his alleged agents, on February 15, were paraded by the security before the media after they were arrested in connection for torturing a number of citizens and later film them whimpering in pain before sending the videos to Pacifique who would later use the footage to depict Burundi as very unsafe.
TrumpetNews understands that Pacifique’s men abducted a prominent civilian in Burundi last year and subjected him into torture before demanding 6 milllions (Burundi francs) from his family.
“The family organized the money and he was released by the ruthless men. However, he had recognized a few faces. He reported the four men to police and were arrested,” local media reported.
Asked who they were working for, the quartet confessed to have been hired by Mr. Pacifique to commit such crimes, film and send the videos so as he could use them to solicit funds from his Western allies.
Patrick Mugwaneza
He also came out last week to confess colluding with Pacifique against the State.
Mugwaneza, not long ago released a video of tortured men in a safe house in Bujumbura.
His video was also ran by prominent UK media house BBC.
However, in a dramatic shift of events, Mr. Mugwaneza on February 14, told the authorities in Bujumbura that he had been an agent of Pacifique for quite a long time.
And was promised a visa to Canada if only he executed the mission as instructed.
Speaking to the media, Mugwaneza publicly disowned paficique and what he termed as “evil Ndondeza Campaign.”