Retiring leader of Burundi will get ‘luxury’ villa and £400,000
A “luxury” villa and a £400,000 golden handshake are just some of the perks presidents in Burundi will receive after leaving office, according to new laws.
The motion, passed with 98 votes for and two against, was agreed yesterday – just months before President Pierre Nkurunziza, 55, steps down in May.
The package represents a fortune in the East African state which is still recovering from a 13-year civil war and where 71.8 per cent of the population live in poverty.
A diplomat in Burundi, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “The benefits that will be given to a president at the end of his mandate are exorbitant if one takes into account the crisis in the country but it is a positive measure as it seems to indicate very clearly that Nkurunziza will not run for the presidency.”
Mr Nkurunziza’s unconstitutional but ultimately successful decision to run for a third term led to an attempted military coup and a mass exodus of 200,000 people in 2015.
The golden parachute deal states that departing presidents will receive “a luxury villa built with public funds in the location of his choice within five years, as well as a one-off allocation of one billion Burundian francs”.
The deal only applies to elected heads of state, making Mr Nkurunziza, who banned jogging in 2014, the only eligible candidate as others have come to power through military coups or peace deals. Future departing leaders will also get the same benefits as a serving vice-president for seven years after retirement and a lifetime cash allowance equal to that of an MP’S salary.