While claiming to rule by divine will, in the last couple of years, Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza turned the country into a living hell for many.

"It was the end of free speech, political opponents were forced into exile, the country went into political isolation," said analyst Sematumba.

"Despite some shortcomings of his tenure in the 15 years, if you see the current situation, whereby a president dies and the country remains stable, with no violence, no bloodshed, this means a lot about his legacy," Havyarimana told DW.

"Here in Burundi people say that President Nkurunziza brought democracy to the country, because [2020] was going to be the first time for a Burundi president to peacefully and democratically hand over power to another president.

Analyst Sematumba concured: "During his first two mandates he toed the line of the Arusha Accords," of 2000, which brought to end a brutal civil war and sought to establish the foundation for a lasting peace between the country's Hutu majority and the Tutsi minority.