The third presidential term has revealed the true nature of the Burundian regime. In order to gain access to an unconstitutional third term, President Pierre Nkurunziza, who was sentenced to death in absentia during the civil war that claimed the lives of more than 300,000 Burundians between 1993 and 2003, organises, coordinates and finances crimes against humanity against his opponents. He rejects out of hand any call for a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Often presenting himself as a messianic president and adopting a vulgar populism, the world discovered the true nature of Pierre Nkurunziza's regime during his third term in office. The author deciphers governance under Pierre Nkurunziza and shows that, from the outset, his regime bore within itself the seeds of the country's destruction.