Évariste Ndayishimiye

Évariste Ndayishimiye (born 17 June 1968) is a Burundian general and politician who has served as the tenth President of Burundi since 18 June 2020 and as the chairperson of the African Union since February 2026. He became involved in the rebel National Council for the Defense of Democracy – Forces for the Defense of Democracy during the Burundian Civil War and rose up the ranks of its militia. At the end of the conflict, he entered the Burundian Army and held a number of political offices under the auspices of President Pierre Nkurunziza. Nkurunziza endorsed Ndayishimiye as his successor ahead of the 2020 elections which he won with a large majority.

== Biography ==

Évariste Ndayishimiye was born on 17 June 1968 at Musama, Kabanga Zone in Giheta, Gitega Province in Burundi. He is reported to be a "fervent" Catholic. He began studies in law at the University of Burundi (UB) but was still studying in 1995 when Hutu students were massacred as part of the inter-ethnic violence which accompanied the Burundian Civil War (1993–2005). He fled and joined the moderate rebel National Council for the Defense of Democracy – Forces for the Defense of Democracy (Conseil National Pour la Défense...