Gervais Rufyikiri (born 12 April 1965) is a

Burundi Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is located in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa, with a population of over 14 million peop ...

an politician who was Second Vice President of Burundi from 2010 to 2015. Born in Gitega Province, Rufyikiri holds a doctorate (PhD) in Biological, Agricultural and Environmental Engineering Sciences from the Belgian university

Université Catholique de Louvain UCLouvain (or Université catholique de Louvain , French for Catholic University of Louvain, officially in English the University of Louvain) is Belgium's largest French-speaking university and one of the oldest in Europe (originally establishe ...

. An ethnic

Hutu The Hutu (), also known as the Abahutu, are a Bantu ethnic group native to the African Great Lakes region. They mainly live in Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda where they form one of the principal ethnic groups alongside the Tutsi and the Great L ...

, he is a member of the

National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

(CNDD-FDD), became

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of Senate of Burundi on 17 August 2005 until 2010, when he became the Second Vice-President. As a member of President

Pierre Nkurunziza Pierre Nkurunziza (18 December 1964 – 8 June 2020) was a Burundian politician who served as the ninth president of Burundi for almost 15 years from August 2005 until his death in June 2020. A member of the Hutu, Hutu ethnic group, Nkurunziza ...

's ruling party, the CNDD-FDD, Rufyikiri expressed his opposition to Nkurunziza's controversial bid for a third term in 2015. As a result, he was effectively marginalized, although he initially remained in his post as Second Vice-President. On 25 June 2015, Rufyikiri left the country and went into exile in Belgium, declaring that Nkurunziza's candidacy was unconstitutional and that, by running, Nkurunziza was putting his own interests ahead of the nation's interests. He said that Nkurunziza was "deaf" to ignore all the voices calling on him not to run. The government welcomed Rufyikiri's departure and alleged that he was involved in the failed May 2015 coup attempt.

Footnotes

1965 births Living people National Council for the Defense of Democracy – Forces for the Defense of Democracy politicians Vice-presidents of Burundi Presidents of the Senate (Burundi) People from Gitega Province {{Burundi-politician-stub