Kigeli V of Rwanda

Kigeli V Ndahindurwa
Mwami of Rwanda

U.S. Army Captain James Văn Thạch & King Kigeli V of Rwanda
Reign 25 July 1959 – 28 January 1961
Predecessor Mutara III of Rwanda
Successor Being a proprietary monarchy, His Majesty's choice of his successor will not be revealed until after his death.
Born (1936-06-29) June 29, 1936
Kamembe, Rwanda
Kinyarwanda Rudahigwa
House Ndahindurwa
Father Yuhi V of Rwanda
Mother Mukashema
Religion Christianity

Kigeli V Ndahindurwa (born June 29, 1936) was the last ruling King (Mwami) of Rwanda from 25 July 1959 until 28 January 1961.[1] He was born in Kamembe, Rwanda. His Christian name is Jean-Baptiste Ndahindurwa.[2] He currently resides in the United States.

Education

He received his education at the Groupe Scolaire Astrida (now Groupe Scolaire Officiel de Butare) in Rwanda,[3] and at Nyangezi College in the modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Appointment as King

Brass lapel pin Vive Kigeli V "Long Live Kigeli V" (37x12mm)

After King Mutara Rudahigwa died under mysterious circumstances in 1959, he was replaced on the throne by his younger brother Jean-Baptiste Ndahindurwa as King Kigeli V of Rwanda when he was only 23 years old.[4]

Political instability and tribal conflict grew despite the efforts of King Kigeli Ndahindurwa. An increasingly restive Hutu population, encouraged by the Belgian military, sparked a revolt in November 1959. In 1961, King Kigeli V was in Kinshasa to meet with Secretary-General of the United Nations Dag Hammarskjöld when Dominique Mbonyumutwa, with the support of the Belgian government, led a coup d'état that took control of the government. The coup resulted in the 1961 referendum about the fate of the monarchy. He initially fled into exile to Tanganyika, where he lived in Dar es Salaam, Kampala, Uganda, Nairobi and Washington, D.C., United States.

Exile and recent activities

In June 1992, he was granted political asylum by the United States and lives near Washington, D.C..[5] He has traveled internationally to speak on behalf of the Rwandan people and repeatedly called for peace and harmony between the different groups. King Kigeli V has continued to remember the victims of the Rwandan Genocide and makes every attempt to reconcile between all political, ethnic, and religious parties in Rwanda to use the democratic process to solve any disputes. Kigeli was a friend of former South African president Nelson Mandela.

King Kigeli V was invited by the Delta Phi Epsilon Alpha chapter at Georgetown University and gave a speech, "The Rwanda Genocide: The Most Preventable Tragedy of Our Time".[6]

In an August 2007 BBC interview, Kigeli expressed an interest in returning to Rwanda if the Rwandan people are prepared to accept him as their constitutional monarch. He said that he had met President Paul Kagame and that Kagame had told him that he and his family were free to return, but Kigeli said that in order to do so, he needed to know if the people still wanted him to be king. According to Kigeli, Kagame said that he would consult the government about the issue.[7]

In February 2016 King Kigeli V became a Royal Patron of the International Academy for Genealogical and Heraldic Studies (IAGHS), which is a private non-governmental autonomous research organisation founded in 2015.[8]

King Kigeli V is a full "de jure" sovereign with all the rights, privileges, and full honors of this dignity. He has obeyed the international requirements to preserve these rights in perpetuity.[9][10] There are four royal orders that constitute Rwanda's patrimony of honors. They were listed in Burke's Peerage World Orders of Knighthood and Merit work in 2006.[11] The royal orders are the "Royal Order of the Lion", the "Royal Order of the Crested Crane", the "Royal Order of the Crown", and the "Royal Order of the Drum".[4][12]

Kigeli V has recently lived in the Oakton, Virginia area.

Charity

He currently heads the King Kigeli V Foundation,[13] whose mission is to bring humanitarian initiatives on behalf of Rwandan refugees.

Awards and non-hereditary orders and titles

Orders and decorations received by the King:[14]

Quotes

Ancestry

Kigeli V of Rwanda
House of Ndahindurwa
Born: 1936
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Mutara III		 King of Rwanda
25 July 1959 – 28 January 1961 		Vacant
Monarchy abolished
Titles in pretence
Loss of title
Coup d'état
 — TITULAR —
King of Rwanda
28 January 1961 – present		 Incumbent

References

  1. ↑ Cahoon, Ben M. (2010). "World Statesmen". Retrieved 2010-03-12.
  2. ↑ Genealogy
  3. ↑ Bucyensenge, Jean Pierre (JP). "GSO-Butare marks 83rd anniversary." New Times. (Archive) 25 September 2012. Retrieved on 6 March 2013.
  4. 1 2 "A King with No Country," Washingtonian Magazine, April 2013
  5. 1 2 Pickert, Kate (2008-06-05). "Life After the Throne, As King Gyanendra prepares to depart from the Nepalese royal palace, TIME takes a look at how other former and wannabe Monarchs have weathered the loss of their crowns: Kigeli Ndahindurwa V, Former King of Rwanda". Time.com (Time). Retrieved 2010-03-12.
  6. ↑ The Rwanda Genocide: The Most Preventable Tragedy of Our Time
  7. ↑ David Bamford, "Rwanda's former king eyes return", BBC News, August 18, 2007.
  8. ↑ "Royal News and Events", Official Website of HM King Kigeli V, 8 February 2016. Retrieved on 5 March 2016.
  9. ↑ The Augustan Society
  10. ↑ Stanford Journal of International Relations
  11. ↑ Burke's Peerage World Orders of Knighthood and Merit by Guy Stair Sainty and Rafel Heydel-Mankoo. Pages 795 - 798.
  12. ↑ "Noble titles: Honours and offers". The Economist. 28 September 2013. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  13. ↑ Lyons, Patrick J. (2007-07-23). "Dwindling Links to Monarchies Past". The Lede, The New York Times News Blog. The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
  14. ↑ King Kigeli
  15. 1 2 3 Barabin, Alexandria (2005-11-01). "Rwanda King Kigeli V speaks at CSUN". Daily Sundail (California State University-Northridge). Retrieved 2010-03-12.

External links

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