OUR HISTORY

Chief Karyenda addresses the Burundian people

If this document is in your hands today, it is no coincidence. It is because the time has come. The time when silence becomes betrayal. The time when ignorance becomes a weapon against ourselves. The time when the divisions we inherited must finally be dismantled.

Before colonization, we were one people. In ancient Burundi, the words Umuhutu, Umututsi and Umutwa were not ethnic identities. They determined neither human worth, nor rights, nor dignity. They described social roles within the same civilization, under the same authority, with the same values, the same language, the same land and the same culture.

From 1895, German colonizers arrived. Then, from 1906, the Belgians established a more extensive, more brutal and more methodical administration. The colonizers applied a well-known doctrine: “Divide and rule.” They measured noses, measured skulls, classified Burundians as objects, introduced an artificial hierarchy, gave education to some, denied it to others, and institutionalized division through ethnic identity cards.

This document is neither a polemic, nor hate speech, nor an act of revenge. It is a document of unity and rebuilding. It exists to explain, educate, awaken, propose a solution and organize a credible alternative. It exists to tell the Burundian people: “You are not condemned to repeat a history written by others.”

Ideological foundations: the Intelligentsia Policy

Burundi, like many African countries, has not failed because it lacks wealth, intelligence or courage among its people. It has failed because of imported political systems that are poorly adapted, open to manipulation and vulnerable. Classical democracy, as applied in our context, has been diverted by despotism, exploited by demagoguery, used to manipulate the masses and emptied of its ethical substance. The Intelligentsia Policy does not reject democracy — it corrects it, strengthens it and gives it an ethical foundation.

Unlike ideologies that glorify the party, the leader, ethnicity or the abstract state, the Intelligentsia Policy places the INDIVIDUAL at the center. A corrupt citizen produces a corrupt state. An irresponsible citizen produces irresponsible government. An aware citizen produces sound governance.

The Intelligentsia Policy rests on five pillars: Integrative Intelligentsia (governance based on intelligence, rather than improvisation or clan loyalties), GIRA ITEKA (power as a sacred responsibility, rather than a privilege), Accountability (no one is above the law), Positive Citizenship (active citizens strengthen the nation), and Democratic Justice (no justice, no peace — no reconciliation without equality before the law).

These five pillars operate as an integrated system called the “Pentagon of Redemption.” A single pillar is not enough. Together, the five bring about transformation. KOMEZAMAHORO adopts the Intelligentsia Policy because it transcends ethnicity, rejects populism and prepares a new generation of aware citizens.

History, colonization and the creation of divisions

Before the arrival of the European colonial powers, Burundi was an organized kingdom, with a central authority, royal and customary institutions, its own political culture, education from an early age, mechanisms of social solidarity, a common language (Kirundi), and shared values: Imana, Uburundi, Ubuntu, respect, dignity and harmony.

In 1895, the German Empire entered Burundian territory. From 1906–1910, Belgium inherited the territory and began the most destructive transformation. Belgium did more than govern — it restructured Burundian society. Its objective was not harmony, but control, colonial stability, exploitation and the prevention of uprisings.

Belgian colonial strategy rested on “divide and rule”: creating rigid categories, ranking the population, setting groups against one another and governing through mistrust. They transformed social terms into fixed identities through pseudoscientific theories, racial classifications and measurements of physical features. One of the most destructive acts was the introduction of ethnic identity cards in 1926.

This colonial policy produced mistrust passed down from generation to generation, the politicization of identity, the exploitation of fears, inherited postcolonial conflicts and a lasting weakening of the state. Violence after independence is not an African inevitability — it is the direct consequence of a deliberate colonial system. KOMEZAMAHORO declares its rejection of ethnicity as a political instrument, its recognition of colonial manipulation and its commitment to building a Burundian civic identity. We do not deny history. We understand it in order to move beyond it.

Borders, territories and geopolitical inheritance

African borders are not the result of negotiations among African peoples or of internal historical processes. They are the product of European conferences, notably the Berlin Conference (1884–1885), held without a single African present. Before colonization, Burundi formed part of a coherent regional space, connected economically, culturally, politically and through human relationships. The regions of Bugufi and Buha were part of the Kingdom of Burundi.

For the colonial powers, large African territorial groupings represented a danger because unity encourages resistance, and resistance threatens exploitation. The colonial solution was to fragment territories and create small, dependent states. Colonial maps show straight lines, borders unrelated to the terrain and divisions cutting through entire communities. These borders separated families, severed economic networks and fragmented a shared memory.

KOMEZAMAHORO’s position is to recognize current borders as the international legal framework, reject all violence, support diplomatic processes involving Burundi, Tanzania, Belgium and England, and promote historical dialogue and Pan-African integration. The solution lies in diplomacy, unity, cooperation and sovereignty.

The economy, resources and global competition for wealth

Burundi is not poor — it has been impoverished. Poverty is historical, structural, political and geopolitical. Burundi possesses nickel, vanadium, cobalt, gold, cassiterite, rare earth elements, phosphates, peat and hydroelectric potential. These resources are strategic for the twenty-first century: the energy transition, electric vehicles, satellites, artificial intelligence and robotics all require African minerals.

Resources are extracted, exported in their raw state, processed elsewhere and sold back at high prices. The colonial model continues in another form. The Intelligentsia Policy proposes understanding the true value of resources, training skilled citizens, demanding transparency in contracts, developing local processing and investing in scientific and technical education.

The Burundian diaspora possesses skills, masters technologies, understands international systems and has enormous investment potential. KOMEZAMAHORO sees the diaspora as a strategic means of advancement, a bridge between Burundi and the world, and a central actor in development.

A practical action program

The KOMEZAMAHORO CONSCIOUS program is inclusive, progressive, nonviolent, organized and measurable. It addresses all Burundians regardless of age, sex, origin or place of residence, with programs for every generation, from children to elders.

Children (ages 4–12) learn to identify first as Burundians, rather than by ethnicity. Adolescents (ages 13–17) develop critical thinking and historical awareness. Young adults (ages 18–35) become a productive and civic force through vocational, entrepreneurial and ethical leadership training. Adults (ages 36–60) help stabilize society through participatory governance and mediation. Elders (ages 61 and over) are honored as guardians of memory, values and wisdom across generations.

The program also addresses refugees (preparing a dignified return and restoring Burundian identity), the diaspora (as strategic actors through platforms for expertise, collective investment and international advocacy), and women and children (through leadership, economic empowerment, political participation and protection).

Final appeal: mobilization and conclusion

KOMEZAMAHORO is more than a movement — it is an AWARENESS. It is not ethnic, hateful or chaotic. It is a revolutionary, nationalist and Pan-African awareness. It offers a method, a vision and a shared responsibility for a Burundi free from the political exploitation of ethnicity, where citizenship takes precedence over imposed identity, where the state serves the people, and where resources serve development.

Awaken, Burundian people. Rise through intelligence. Move forward through awareness. Build through unity. One people. One awareness. One Burundi.

This document is not an ending. It is a beginning. History is watching us. Future generations will judge us.