When I was growing up in 1980’s I always heard stories from the elderly people in my family conversing about our beloved King, words such as (umwami wu Rwanda Kigeli V Ndahindurwa) who they reported had taken the throne at an early age. My grandmother actually informed me that the King had visited my village (Lwebitakuli, Sembabule, Uganda) in the 1970’s I was disappointed that I never had a chance to see him however my elder sister was able to participate in the cultural dance welcoming the King and she even shook his hand (I wish I was there to take a glimpse). On this occasion the King was given cows and many other gifts from the people.

The King was busy conducting excellent work trying to unite the refugees around the globe and becoming a voice for them where ever they were. Our King wrote letters and met with leaders of different countries just to make sure that his people were comfortable. Some of the cows he was given on the occasion are still at my uncle’s farm, I hope he will turn up for them one day. We kept on hearing only good news about our King who tried to avoid another tragedy happening on our land by communicating with the leaders of the time in order to find a solution contrary to war, he moved around to different countries in Africa and managed to keep the Rwandese people together with a strong culture and belief, solidarity and love that has kept us going until today.

He informed the international community the dangers surrounding ignoring what was going in Rwanda just before genocide. He was the King who visited refugees in Congo just after the Habyarimana government was overthrown and most Hutu refugees left for Congo where the RPF soldiers were slaughtering them like animals. After this visit he made in Lubumbashi around year late 1999 or early 2000, the Kagame government started creating rumours that he has rebels and threatened to fight them, a lot of young people were arrested and others killed, people began to become afraid of mentioning the name of our King in fear of retribution.

Former President Habyarimana was afraid of the King’s return because at the time most of people in Rwanda understood the importance of a monarchy in a country like Rwanda experiencing ignorance and belief in tribalism. President Habyarimana thought that the King would make it hard for him to rule the poor nation. He was continuously reminded of the history of Kingdoms only based on 1700 or 1800 Kings who may have mistreated their citizens, but ignored the reform which had been done by Mutara Rudahigwa and King Kigeli V’s Manifesto of the 1959. Former President Habyarimana tried to ignore even an important point of that our King was modern and not stuck in history. He is the King who finalised the search for our independence, (Unfortunately never even celebrated). However he continued staying in touch with people, even when the leaders in power ignored him and his ideas. Many of the fallen leaders did contact him for advice when in exile on how to survive. Our King has always maintained the King’s gesture of remembering his people because he understands the problems his country experienced were mostly was caused by the outsiders (Belgians). Like his name, Ndahindurwa, he remains the same with love for his people and tried to make every one understand that the divisions inside Rwanda were caused by outsiders.

Our King is still seen as a powerful symbol of hope. The refugees had always maintained contact with the King and so the RPF leaders themselves including their former leader who may actually have made sure that the King returns home. According to the few who knew General Fred Rwigema, they believed that his goal was to stop these lives of statelessness which dominates our society still, but then came the strong man Paul Kagame, everything is about him not the people. Until today the Rwandese people are hungry to see or listen to their King but Kagame continues to deprive them of that choice they are entitled to. This all remains in a book of history on MRND/RPF page.

His Majesty   Kigeli V Message on the 16th Commemoration of the Genocide

Fellow Rwandans,

My greetings to all of you wherever you are inside or outside Rwanda.

I love you and I miss you!

As we commemorate the genocide  for the 16th time, and as we remember our loved ones who lost their lives in that tragedy, I take the opportunity to ask you to pray for all our loved ones who perished, and to implore our Creator to grant them an everlasting rest.

The tragedy that befell Rwanda left indelible wounds in our collective memory. The loss of our loved ones will remain with us forever. This reminds us our moral obligation to protect every human life.

I insistently ask every Rwandan to work for peace in Rwanda; to live in peace with one another, especially during the times of the genocide’s commemoration; to protect everyone’s human rights; and to love one another so that the horror that happened in Rwanda does not repeat anymore.

I offer my sympathy to all widows, orphans, and all the less privileged.     Be patient and never lose hope because God is with us.

Fellow Rwandans, I love you and I miss you! And it is time for me to return to my home country so that we can, together, build our country the way we wish it to be.

In my New Year message, I told you we will meet in Rwanda this year 2010 and I particularly ask young people to preserve our cultural values of love, solidarity, tolerance, courage, frankness, and humility.                           These values are crucial to the reconciliation and lasting peace in Rwanda.

Fellow Rwandans, I will always work for the unity of all Rwandans.          This is the pledge I have made to God and to all of you as the Constitutional monarch of Rwanda.                                                                    

I wish you peace.  May our Almighty God protect you wherever you are inside or outside Rwanda

His Majesty Kigeli V Jean Baptist Ndahindurwa

But why does President Paul Kagame continuously keep this King in exile?

He stated that our King will only return back to his country as a normal citizen and not even a cultural leader. The Rwandan parliament is not allowed to discuss on the King’s return, and the people of Rwanda have never had a chance to be consulted on this matter. Surprisingly, our King was overthrown by the Belgians not the Rwandans; Paul Kagame like his predecessors always displayed anxiety for the King’s return because he was ousted not overthrown. Paul Kagame cannot stand a normal politician let alone a King in any way. President Paul Kagame lost his tongue in year 2000 when he said on the national radio that if the King has an army he will be shoot at. I laughed because in a normal way all RDF soldiers should be called the King’s forces because he has always been there for all Rwandans, and so the army belongs to his majesty not his “so called” excellency Paul Kagame. It does not matter ex-FAR or RDF, if Kagame was a peaceful president he should even have been proud of being called a King’s force because peace and reconciliation will only be achieved from where the instability started, and with the King’s involvement Rwanda will heal.

 But who is this King?

 Kigeli V Ndahindurwa was born in the royal family in culture which understood the importance of the Kingdom at the time.  Born June 29, 1936 he was the ruling King of Rwanda from 25 Jul 1959 until 28 Jan 1961. He was born in Kamembe, Rwanda. His Christian name is Jean-Baptiste and sir name Ndahindurwa. He was raised as a prince as it’s generally well known in our country. He attended his education at Groupe Scolaire d’Astrida in Rwanda, and at Nyangezi College in the modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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.

Political instability and tribal conflict grew despite the efforts of King Kigeli Ndahindurwa. He was a young King with no support from the western colonisers.  An increasingly resistive Hutu population were encouraged by the Belgian military to not recognize the King thus sparking a revolt in November 1959. In 1961, King Kigeli V was in Kinshasa to meet with Secretary-General of the United Nations Dag Hammarskjöld with Dominique Mbonyumutwa with the support of the Belgian government. This led to a coup d’état that took control of the government. The coup resulted in the 1961 referendum about the fate of the monarchy. The majority voted against the monarchy of King Kigeli V and he was ousted. He initially fled into exile to Tanganyika, where he lived in Dar es Salaam (1961–1962). Then he moved to Nairobi, Kenya (1963–1971). He also lived in Kampala, Uganda (1972–1978) and in Nairobi (1979–1992) and since 1992 he has lived in Washington, D.C., United States.

In June 1992, he was granted political asylum by the United States and continues to live in Washington, D. C.. He has travelled internationally speaking on behalf of the Rwandan people and repeatedly calls for peace and harmony between the different ethnic and political groups.

King Kigeli V has continued to remember the victims of the Rwandan Genocide and continues to make every attempt to reconcile between all political, ethnic, and religious parties in Rwanda to use the democratic process to solve any disputes. King Kigeli is a friend of former South African president Nelson Mandela.

King Kigeli V was invited by the Delta Phi Epsilon Alpha chapter at Georgetown University where he gave a speech, “The Rwanda Genocide: The Most Preventable Tragedy of Our Time”.

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

He currently heads the King Kigeli V Foundation, whose mission is to bring humanitarian initiatives on behalf of Rwandese refugees. King Kigeli V awards the Royal Order of the Intare to individuals.

 

 

 

 

Awards and non-hereditary orders and titles, held by our beloved King which has never been held by the so called Rwandan leaders, Kagame has been begging for awards all over the world but I bet he will never get any of these, simply because he is not as peaceful as our King.

  • King Kigeli V was awarded the Gold Star Award from by the International Strategic Studies Association for Outstanding Contributions to Strategic Progress through Humanitarian Achievement for his work for Rwandan refugees in Africa.

Orders and decorations received by the King:

Written by Noble Marara, editor Jennifer  Fierberg.