Cemeteries and memorials to visit Burundi

Prince Louis Rwagasore is the national hero of Burundi, the major political figure of decolonization. Murdered on 13 October 1961, he was buried a few days later on Vugizo Hill, cleared hastily by hundreds of followers of Uprona Party whose leader he was the leader. Cried by the crowds at his funeral, the son of the Mwami Mwambutsa is still celebrated regularly in front of his mausoleum.

The monument is of sober design, with three arches marked with the colours of the national flag and, on the right, plates on behalf of each of the "boroughs" (provincial divisions) of the time. It stands on the outskirts of calm, in this very residential area.

On each side of the mausoleum stands the stelas of two other illustrious Burundians whose deaths remain mysterious: the grave of Ignace Kamatari, senior brother of the Mwami Mwambutsa, killed in May 1964, and that of Pierre Ngendandumwe, the Hutu Prime Minister murdered in January 1965.

In recent years, prohibitions to take pictures of the monument are regularly addressed to the tourist. It is not very logical, but we cannot do much…