Pierre Buyoya in the context of "François Ngeze"

Presidential elections were held in Burundi on 1 June 1993 following the approval of a new constitution in a referendum the previous year. They were the first multi-party elections for the presidency, the only previous elections in 1984 having been held at a time when the country was a one-party state. They were also only the second contested national elections held in the country since independence in 1962.

Three candidates entered the contest, with Melchior Ndadaye of the Front for Democracy in Burundi defeating incumbent President Pierre Buyoya with 66% of the vote. Voter turnout was 97%.

On 21 October 1993, a coup was attempted in Burundi by a Tutsi–dominated army faction. The coup attempt resulted in assassination of Hutu President Melchior Ndadaye and the deaths of other officials in the constitutional line of presidential succession. François Ngeze was presented as the new President of Burundi by the army, but the coup failed under domestic and international pressure, leaving Prime Minister Sylvie Kinigi in charge of the government.

Following a long period of military rule by Tutsi army officers, in the early 1990s Burundi underwent a democratic transition. In June 1993 presidential and parliamentary elections were held and won by the Hutu-dominated Front pour la Démocratie au Burundi (FRODEBU), displacing the ruling Union pour le Progrès National (UPRONA) and President Pierre Buyoya. A new coalition government was installed on 10 July with FRODEBU leader Ndadaye as Burundi's first Hutu president. Ndadaye's tenure was largely peaceful, but during his time in office Burundi was subject to several social and political disruptions. Thousands of Burundian Hutu refugees who had fled previous political violence returned to the country en masse, while the government reconsidered various contracts and economic concessions made by the previous regimes and began reforming the army. These actions threatened the interest of Tutsi business elites and military officers. In this atmosphere, elements in the army began planning a coup. The exact identity of those who led the plot remains unknown, though Ngeze, Army Chief of Staff Jean Bikomagu, ex-President Jean-Baptiste Bagaza, and outgoing President Buyoya are widely suspected to have been involved.

Jean Bikomagu (died August 15, 2015) was a Burundian colonel, military officer and former army chief. Bikomagu held the position of Army Chief of Staff during the Burundian Civil War (1993–2005). Burundi's army was dominated by ethnic Tutsis during the civil war.

In 1992 Bikomagu served as the commander of the Cibitoke Army Camp. President Melchior Ndadaye appointed him as Army Chief of Staff in 1993. President Pierre Buyoya dismissed him on 21 August 1996. Bikomagu was shot and killed by assailants on August 15, 2015, as he was arriving at his home in the Kinindo district of southern Bujumbura. His daughter was seriously wounded in the attack. His assassination, and other killings in Burundi, raised concerns that the at the time ongoing 2015 Burundian unrest could have been escalating.