Description : Gitega (formerly Kitega) is the capital of Burundi. Located in the centre of the country, in the Burundian central plateau roughly 62 kilometres (39 mi) east of Bujumbura (the largest city and former capital), Gitega (the second largest city) was the seat of the Kingdom of Burundi until its abolition in 1966. In late December 2018, Burundian president Pierre Nkurunziza announced that he would follow on a 2007 promise to return Gitega its former political capital status, with Bujumbura remaining as economic capital and centre of commerce. A vote in the Parliament of Burundi made the change official on 16 January 2019, with all branches of government expected to move in over three years. Gitega was at one time the seat of the Kingdom of Burundi and remained as capital of the kings of Burundi (mwami) until 1966. The Germans founded the town of Gitega in 1912. In March 2007, President of Burundi Pierre Nkurunziza announced that Burundi was planning to bring back its capital city to Gitega, saying that it is in a better location for a capital than Bujumbura. On 24 December 2018, it was announced by Nkurunziza that Gitega was to become the capital city of Burundi, pending only Parliament approval. The expected parliamentary assent (given the President's CNDD-FFD party comfortable majority in both chambers) arrived through a vote on 16 January 2019, with some ministries already starting the move two days later.
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