God and COVID-19 in Burundian social media: The political fight for the control of the narrative

Abstract

While an incredible series of twists characterized the fight against COVID-19 in Burundi and its narration, references to God have never been missing in the narratives around the disease. Trust in God represented one of the pillars of the government’s narrative, next to an attitude of ‘denialism’, and the fight against ‘fake news’. This article analyses the evolution of the narration of COVID-19 on Twitter during the first three phases of the fight against the disease, focusing on the use of the religious narrative. Within Burundi’s contemporary sociopolitical context, analysis of these narratives on social media best demonstrates how the fight against COVID-19 in Burundi was a fight for the control of the narrative, and by extension for political legitimacy.