Burundi unveils Cabinet dominated by hard-liners

New Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye has unveiled a slimmed-down cabinet of only 15 ministers, dominated by regime hard-liners such as the head of the feared intelligence service.

Ndayishimiye took office earlier this month after the sudden death of veteran leader Pierre Nkurunziza, and many had hoped for a new era after years of rights abuses, repression and violence.

However, Ndayishimiye, an army general handpicked by the ruling party to succeed Nkurunziza, has placed some of the regime’s most controversial characters in his government, in the Cabinet announced on Sunday.