As President Évariste Ndayishimiye prepares to take on the chairmanship of the African Union, Burundi stands before a rare diplomatic crossroads, and so does the man himself. Leadership of the AU is more than a ceremonial rotation; it is a continental stage that exposes, amplifies, and ultimately defines a leader’s stature far beyond his borders.

ALSO READ: What are the motivations of Burundi’s military intervention in South Kivu?

For Ndayishimiye, this is a moment thick with possibility. The chance to reconfigure Burundi’s place in the region, to rebuild strained relationships, and to reclaim a diplomatic image that, in recent years, has drifted into the shadows of suspicion and isolation. Africa will be watching. And the world will be listening.

ALSO READ: How Burundian troops in South Kivu sparked a distinct humanitarian crisis amid DR Congo’s wider war

For Burundi, whose history has long been narrated through conflict, fragility, and political volatility, the AU chairmanship offers a rare window to project a different national profile, one rooted in statesmanship rather than grievance, in cooperation rather than perpetual tension. It is an opportunity for Bujumbura to show that it can contribute solutions to continental security problems rather than silently orbiting regional crises. It is a chance to reposition Burundi as a constructive actor instead of a reluctant outlier.

For Ndayishimiye personally, the symbolism goes even deeper. This is, undeniably, a moment for redemption. A moment to correct course. A moment to demonstrate that he can be a credible player at the high table of African leadership not a president boxed into an "us versus them” narrative that only he seems to understand, not a leader swept into Kinshasa’s vortex of hate-laden, ethnicized politics, not a head of state whose recent posture has left many wondering which side of regional stability he truly stands on.

Because siding with negative elements and extremist actors in the region, groups like FDLR, has never been a strategic mistake; it has been a dangerous one. And Ndayishimiye knows it. The AU chairmanship, therefore, becomes a stage on which he can show clarity instead of confusion, principle instead of improvisation. It is the moment to turn away from any alignment that undermines Burundi’s credibility and to embrace positions that enhance its legitimacy.

ALSO READ: President Ndayishimiye’s appointee who made FDLR’s dreams come true

Yet hovering over this moment of continental honour is a question President Ndayishimiye cannot outrun. His deepening entanglement in the conflict in eastern DR Congo. Burundian soldiers have died on foreign soil in a war whose objectives remain unclear to the Burundian public, while reports of atrocities including the killing and persecution of Banyamulenge communities, continue to stain the regional conscience. These are not distant issues; they are moral and political burdens that travel with him to Addis Ababa. The AU chairmanship is not a refuge from these realities; it is a spotlight. It demands that Ndayishimiye confront the cost of interventionism, explain the purpose of Burundian bloodshed in DR Congo, and take an unambiguous stand against ethnic violence, regardless of who the victims are. The AU seat is waiting, not to celebrate him, but to test whether he is willing to face these demons with honesty, accountability, and a genuine commitment to peace.

ALSO READ: DR Congo: Survivors of Nturo massacre narrate ordeal

The chairmanship also offers the chance to open what he has closed. To unlock the borders that have suffocated trade, strangled livelihoods, and pushed ordinary Burundians deeper into misery. To restore the idea that neighbours are not threats but partners; that development does not happen behind barricades; and that prosperity grows from exchange, not isolation. If Ndayishimiye chooses to use this moment to re-engage East Africa with sincerity and pragmatism, he could end up delivering to Burundi what years of rhetoric never did. The real economic oxygen.

ALSO READ: President Ndayishimiye on the spot over Burundian army mandate in DR Congo

But the larger question remains. What legacy will Ndayishimiye leave at the African Union?

He could leave the legacy of a chair who tried to use continental leadership as a shield for domestic insecurities, preaching unity while practicing division at home. Or he could leave the opposite legacy: that of a leader who rose above old habits, who used the AU platform to reset his compass, who embraced the responsibility of chairmanship not as a trophy but as a discipline. He could champion regional dialogue rather than deepen regional fault lines. He could elevate Burundi by elevating Africa’s collective voice. He could surprise his critics, not by words, but through coherence, consistency, and courage.

ALSO READ: 80-year-old Congolese reflects on lifetime of injustice, attacks in DR Congo

The AU chair is a one-year assignment but the imprint it leaves can last decades.

Ndayishimiye can either confirm the doubts that have accumulated around his diplomacy, or he can seize the moment to redefine himself and the nation he leads. Burundi may not often be handed an opportunity of this scale. It now depends on Ndayishimiye whether this becomes the year Burundi re-enters the continental stage with maturity and purpose or whether it becomes yet another chapter of missed chances.

The chairmanship does not guarantee legacy. But it offers the chance to build one. And for Ndayishimiye, this may be the last, best opportunity to show he is capable of leadership that transcends fear, faction, and regional entanglement. A leader who finally understands that Burundi’s future lies in openness, not in defensive nationalism; in cooperation, not in the politics of imagined enemies.

History is generous only to those who choose courage. The question now is whether Ndayishimiye will.

The writer is an ideator and alternative financing strategist.