Banyasekera, Philippe

Interviewee

Philippe Banyasekera

Interviewee Age

69

Interviewee Gender

Male

Interviewee Ethnicity

Hutu

Interviewee Level of Education in 1972

None

Geographical Location(s) during the genocide

Burundi, Rurira, Busoni commune, Kirundo province

Current Geographical Location

Burundi, Rurira Village, the commune is Busoni, the province Kirundo

Interview Date

3-4-2022

Interviewer Name

Philippe Mukamarakiza

Summary of Oral History

Philippe and his 3 other siblings did not attend school, as it was rare to go being Hutu without experiencing harm or death. His father was the first relative closest to Philippe who was captured by the armed forces in Burundi. Philippe’s father was a woodmaker and did construction work for a living. One day on the job, his father and uncle were approached by a man they once had acquaintances with, they even helped construct parts of his home. The man, who goes by the name Bimpenda, tells Philippe’s father that he and his brother are wanted at his office for a discussion, where they assumed he had a job opportunity assorted for them. They arrived and were arrested, packed on military trucks, and taken away. A communal administrator named Nzogera, brought a group along with him and looted Philippe’s whole home, taking 24 of his family's goats. The men responsible for this claimed that they were taking traitors' belongings and how no one deserves them, to justify their actions. That same week, they forced Philippe and his family out of their homes, causing them to move in with their grandfather, on his father’s side. Days later came, where the interior minister ordered them to go back to their homes, but at that point, everything they ever owned was stolen, causing them to go back to nothing but an empty home.

Named Persons

Petero Ndarwarukanye (Father), Cobikeka Madarena (Mother), Bimpenda (the administrator who took his father & uncle to jail), André Ntunguka (the messenger of the news regarding his father), Nzogera (communal administrator & looter), John Ngendakumana, Fabien Buzubona

Named Places

Burundi, Rurira Village, the commune is Busoni, the province Kirundo

Length of Oral History

00:27:50

Language(s) of Oral History

Kirundi

Language(s) of Transcripts

Kirundi, English

Translator for Transcripts

Pasteur Niyomwungere and transcriptionist Sylvane Ndihokubwayo

Rights

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Recommended Citation

Banyasekera, Philippe, "Banyasekera, Philippe" (2022). 1972 Burundi Genocide – Oral Histories. 13.
https://neiudc.neiu.edu/burundi-oral-histories/13

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