Pierre Buyoya: President from 1987 to 1993 and from 1996 to the present day. A wily operator who enjoys being president but is nonetheless apparently sincere in his efforts to give it up to the Hutu opposition when he judges the moment to be right.
Commands the loyalty of the army though not unconditionally. Many do not trust him following Front pour la Dmocratie au Burundi’s (Frodebu) victory at the elections he organised in 1993.
Augustin Nzojibwami: Frodebu secretary general who is Buyoya’s main supporter within the party.
Has been engaged for some time in a vicious power struggle with Jean Minani.
Jean Minani: Frodebu president. Lives in Tanzania. Opposes power sharing with Buyoya and was close to Julius Nyerere. Has been weakened politically by Nyerere’s death.
Jean-Bosco Ndayikengurukiye: Head of the breakaway faction of the National Council for the Defence of Democracy (CNDD) called the CNDD-FDD (Forces for the Defence of Democracy). Commands a large militia active in Burundi and east Democratic Republic of Congo, allied to the Rwandan interahamwe. Will need a lot of convincing that there is anything in the peace process for him, and Nelson Mandela may need to arrange for some discreet arm-twisting by South Africa of his main backer, Congo President Laurent Kabila, to help things along.
Lonard Nyangoma: Head of the CNDD. Former Frodebu Cabinet minister who formed the militia in 1995, and has fought the Burundian armed forces ever since. Was greatly weakened by a breakaway faction from his party in 1998 and subsequently relied excessively on Nyerere for support. Is now in big trouble.
Charles Mukasi: Ousted leader of the predominantly Tutsi Union pour le Progrs National in Burundi, who opposes any form of deal with Frodebu or the CNDD. Represents a substantial body of Tutsi political opinion despite being ousted, and cannot just be wished away.