Pierre Buyoya

Major Pierre Buyoya was a Tutsi who seized power in Burundi in a 1987 coup, proclaiming the Third Republic. He aimed to reform church-state relations and address the Hutu-Tutsi ethnic divide. While he repealed restrictions on the church and released political prisoners, discriminatory practices persisted. Following ethnic violence in 1988, Buyoya's government recognized the Hutu-Tutsi problem and sought ethnic parity in government. A new constitution in 1992 prohibited divisive political organizations, and in 1993, Burundi held its first democratic election, in which a Hutu president was elected. Buyoya later served as president again under the Arusha Agreement in 2001, sharing power with a Hutu president.123