Hussein Radjabu

Hussein Radjabu is a former Burundian politician. He was the party chairman of the ruling National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy until February 2007, when he was deposed at a party congress. In April 2007, he was arrested on charges of "plotting an armed rebellion and insulting the president by referring to him as an "empty bottle". [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/africa/7330298.stm Burundi jail term for 'plotter'] BBC News, 4 April, 2008] In April 2008, Radjabu was convicted of those charges, leading to a 13 year prison sentence.

Hussein Radjabu became the President of CNDD-FDD after the election of Pierre Nkurunziza as the head of state of Burundi although many still consider that he had acted as kingmaker since he was appointed the secretary general of this former armed political movement. He afterwards became very unpopular when the independent media reported on various crimes in which involved CNDD-FDD after it won the 2005 elections.

Although the illicit sale of the presidential plane, Falcon 50, bribes that characterised the contract to rebuild the road Bujumbura-Rumonge and the extrajudicial killings of people in Muyinga and Kinama contributed a lot to reduce his popularity; it was the arrest and the imprisonment of former dignitaries and journalists in a fabricated coup that quickened his expulsion from the presidency of the party. In February 2007, the CNDD-FDD congress of Ngozi replaced him with Jérémie Ngendakumana. Hussein Radjabu never recognised this congress even though it appointed him as a member of the party's wise council along with his companion, Pierre Nkurunziza.

Many Burundians still consider El Hajji Hussein Radjabu as a scapegoat since the executive remains answerable to many crimes that dogged the country since the CNDD-FDD came to power. Politicians, including some opposition parties, still hold that political motivations led to the imprisonment of Hussein Radjabu.

References

Burundi Réalités (Bujumbura), 5 April 2008