Charles Baranyanka (1935 – 1 August 2021) was a Burundian diplomat and historian.

Early life

Charles Baranyanka was born in 1935 in Rabiro,

Ngozi Province Ngozi Province is one of the 18 provinces of Burundi. Location Ngozi Province is in the center of northern Burundi, and borders Rwanda to the north. Kayanza Province is to the west, Gitega Province and Karuzi Province to the south, Muyinga Prov ...

Ruanda-Urundi Ruanda-Urundi (), later Rwanda-Burundi, was a geopolitical entity, once part of German East Africa, that was occupied by troops from the Belgian Congo during the East African campaign in World War I and was administered by Belgium under milit ...

. His father, Pierre Baranyanka, was a chief who had close connections with the Belgian colonial administration. Ethnically, he was a

Ganwa Ganwa is the name for the princely group that traditionally ruled Burundi. They formed a distinct social class that was neither Hutu nor Tutsi The Tutsi ( ), also called Watusi, Watutsi or Abatutsi (), are an ethnic group of the African Great ...

of the Tare lineage. He attended the Groupe Scolaire d'Astrida before studying political science at the

University of Liège The University of Liège (), or ULiège, is a major public university of the French Community of Belgium founded in 1817 and based in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. Its official language is French (language), French. History The university was foun ...

from 1958 to 1961. He married a Belgian woman.

Career

Unlike his brothers, who became leading members of the

Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

(''Parti Démocratique Chrétien'', PDC), Baranyanka chose to support the

Union for National Progress The Union for National Progress (, UPRONA) is a nationalist political party in Burundi. Initially it emerged as a nationalist united front in opposition to Belgian colonial rule but subsequently became an integral part of the one-party state esta ...

(''Union pour le Progres National'', UPRONA). After completing his studies in 1961 he became the ''

chargé d'affaires A (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador. The term is Frenc ...

'' of Burundi's delegation to the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

(EEC). The following year he was made Burundi's permanent representative to the EEC. In 1965 Baranyanka was appointed Ambassador to France. He subsequently became Ambassador to Switzerland. In February 1967 the Burundian government recalled him to

Bujumbura Bujumbura (; ), formerly Usumbura, is the economic capital, largest city and main port of Burundi. It ships most of the country's chief export, coffee, as well as cotton and tin ore. Bujumbura was formerly the country's political capital. In la ...

and arrested him for embezzlement and jeopardising state security. He was acquitted on the first charge but incarcerated for the second count until July 1969. He was nominated by Minister of Foreign Affairs Libère Ndabakwaje to become Ambassador to the United States, but the incumbent, Terence Nsanze, garnered support to suppress it. He then became the ''

chef de cabinet In some Francophone countries and international organisations, a ( French; literally 'head of office') is a senior official working for a high-ranking political or administrative figure such as a government minister. They are typically responsib ...

'' for Ndabakwaje. Ndabakwaje was then made Minister of Economy and Baranyanka moved to that ministry to occupy the same post. In 1971 he was accused by Henri Ntakiyica—who had been incarcerated since 1961 of plotting with Baranyanka's brothers to assassinate

Louis Rwagasore Prince Louis Rwagasore (; 10 January 1932 – 13 October 1961) was a Burundian prince and politician, who was the second prime minister of Burundi for two weeks, from 28 September 1961 until his assassination on 13 October. Born to the Ganwa f ...

—of conspiring with other officials to hire assassins to kill President

Michel Micombero Michel Micombero (26 August 194016 July 1983) was a Burundian military officer and politician who ruled the country as ''de facto'' military dictator for the decade between 1966 and 1976. He was the last Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Burundi ...

. Baranyanka was arrested and detained until 1974. He later became a historian, and in 2015 published a history of Burundi, ''Le Burundi face à la croix et à la bannière''. Baranyanka died on 1 August 2021.

References

Works cited

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baranyanka, Charles 1935 births 2021 deaths Ganwa people Ambassadors of Burundi to France Ambassadors of Burundi to Switzerland Ambassadors of Burundi to Belgium People from Ngozi Province University of Liège alumni