Burundi’s former Prime Minister, General Alain-Guillaume Bunyoni, who is serving a life sentence for plotting against the head of state, was provisionally released on Wednesday for medical reasons, according to judicial sources and family members.
Bunyoni, who had been hospitalized at Gitega Regional Hospital since October 2025, was granted temporary freedom due to his worsening health. He was transported by ambulance to his home in Bujumbura around midday. A relative described his condition as “more than worrying.”
The diabetic former general reportedly lost motor skills and the ability to speak while in prison, where he had long lacked proper medical care, according to prison officials and human rights groups.
Political background
Once regarded as the regime’s de facto second-in-command and a hardline figure under ex-President Pierre Nkurunziza, Bunyoni was appointed Prime Minister in June 2020 by President Evariste Ndayishimiye.
He was dismissed in September 2022, shortly after Ndayishimiye accused him of involvement in an alleged coup plot. In December 2023, Bunyoni was convicted of attempting to overthrow the government, threatening the president’s life, illicit enrichment, and economic destabilization—charges he has consistently denied.
According to an anonymous source, generals within the ruling party had called for his release, and President Ndayishimiye “decided to free him to reunite his camp.”