BUJUMBURA - After sixty years, Ludo De Witte opens up about a murder that set Burundi on the road to internal division, ethnic tension and mass killings.
On 13 October 1961, a Greek assassinated Prime Minister Louis Rwagasore of Burundi. The popular leader had just won the elections, to the consternation of Belgium, which governs Burundi. A few hours after the murder, top official Jean-Paul Harroy crossed paths with the Prime Minister's mother in the hospital where Rwagasore lay in state. She gives Harroy a resounding slap on the ear. This slap contains the conviction of many Burundians: the colonial government organised the crime. But Belgium's role was not investigated: the raison d'état imposed a duty of silence. Belgium executed the gunman, Burundi the five accomplices.
Sixty years later, Ludo De Witte opens up about a murder that set Burundi on the road to internal division, ethnic tension and mass murder. Confessions of key players and the opening of crucial archives expose the Belgian role in the murder of the charismatic leader. With the battle shadows of Patrice Lumumba and King Baudouin in the background, with supporting roles for then Belgian prime minister Paul-Henri Spaak and diplomat Etienne Davignon.
Cover: ©Uitgeverij EPO
BOOK
In Dutch
- Title: Moord in Burundi (Murder in Burundi)
- Subtitle: België en de liquidatie van premier Louis Rwagasore (Belgium and the liquidation of prime minister Louis Rwagasore)
- Editor: EPO
- EAN: 9789462672918
- Date of publication: 06/09/2021
In French:
- Title: Meurtre au Burundi
- Subtitle: La Belgique et l'assassinat de Rwagasore
- Editor: Investig'action
- EAN: 978-2930827872
- ISBN: 2930827874
- Date of publication: November 2021
PRESS COVERAGE
- ‘Prins Rwagasore moet vermoord worden’, De Standaard, 06/09/2021.
- Heeft België een Burundese premier mee gedood? ‘Boudewijn wilde de daders laten overkomen’, De Morgen, 07/09/2021.
- Meurtre au Burundi, l'implacable enquête de Ludo De Witte, Le Soir, 07/09/2021.
