Why Burundi moved its capital to Gitega
In 2019 Burundi made Gitega, a small town in the middle of the country and the old seat of its kings, the political capital. Bujumbura, the much bigger city on Lake Tanganyika, stayed the economic capital.
Written from cited sourcesLast checked 25 September 2026Suggest a correction
- GitegaPolitical capital, since 2019
- BujumburaEconomic capital
Two cities
Bujumbura, Burundi’s biggest city, sits on the country’s western edge, on the shore of Lake Tanganyika. Gitega lies in the centre, and was once the capital of the Burundian monarchy.[3]
The town itself was founded in 1912, when Burundi was a German colony, and under Belgian rule it became the capital of Urundi.[2] The idea of moving the political capital back there is old: Burundi’s constitutions pointed towards it after independence, the 2005 and 2018 constitutions supported it, and an earlier attempt under the Second Republic came to nothing.[1]
The move
In 2007 President Pierre Nkurunziza promised to move the capital, pointing to Gitega’s central location.[3] He acted on it more than a decade later. On 21 December 2018 the Council of Ministers adopted a bill setting the political capital in Gitega and the economic capital in Bujumbura.[2]
The government said cabinet meetings would be held in Gitega from then on, and that five ministries would move there in early 2019, among them the Interior, Education and Agriculture.[2][3] On 16 January 2019 the National Assembly passed the law, with 108 of the 109 deputies present voting for it.[1]
Why, and the doubts
The minister who presented the law, Pascal Barandagiye, gave three reasons: to bring the state’s main services closer to the people from a central city, to avoid concentrating all the country’s national interests in one place, and to relieve Bujumbura, which was struggling with migration from the countryside and with crime.[1]
Critics questioned the timing, given how hard up the country was, and pointed out that Gitega had little office space and few hotels for a government to move into.[3]
Timeline
1912
Gitega is founded
The Germans found the town in their colony; under Belgian rule it becomes the capital of Urundi.[2]
2007
Nkurunziza promises a move
The president says the capital should be in a more central place.[3]
201821 December 2018
The cabinet adopts the bill
Gitega is to be the political capital and Bujumbura the economic one.[2]
201916 January 2019
Parliament makes it law
The National Assembly passes the bill, 108 of the 109 deputies present voting for it.[1]
More capitals
Sources
- [1]Le projet de loi fixant la capitale politique à Gitega adopté · Burundi Eco · 2019-01
In French. The vote, the ministries moving and the minister’s reasons.
- [2]Gitega town to become political capital of Burundi · Iwacu (Bella Lucia Nininahazwe) · 21 December 2018
- [3]Burundi to move political capital to Gitega · Africanews · 22 December 2018
Map geometry from Natural Earth via world-atlas. See credits.