Kigeli V Ndahindurwa (born Jean-Baptiste Ndahindurwa; 29 June 1936 – 16 October 2016) was the last ruling King (Mwami) of Rwanda, from 28 July 1959 until the end of the UN-mandate with Belgian administration and the declaration of an independent Republic of Rwanda 1 July 1962. On 25 September 1961, a referendum voted for the abolition of the Rwandan monarchy following the Rwandan Revolution.

After a brief period of moveabouts after leaving Rwanda, the titular King lived in exile during the final part of his life in the town of Oakton, Virginia, in the United States. In exile, he was known for heading the King Kigeli V Foundation, an organisation promoting humanitarian work for Rwandan refugees. He was also notable for his activities in maintaining the dynastic, cultural heritage of his formerly reigning royal house, including noble titles, dynastic orders of chivalry and other distinctions.

After the king's death, a successor was said to be shortly revealed. In January 2017, it was announced that Yuhi VI would succeed him. Yuhi VI is the nephew of both the late King Kigeli V and the previous King Mutara III, as well as a grandson of King Yuhi V.

Early life and education

Kigeli was born Ndahindurwa on 29 June 1936 in Kamembe, Rwanda, to Yuhi Musinga (the deposed King Yuhi V Musinga), and Queen Mukashema (born Mukashema Bernadette), the seventh of his eleven wives. He was ethnically Tutsi.

When Kigeli was 4 years old, his father was exiled by the Belgian government to Moba, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Following the death of his father, in 1944 he returned to Rwanda. Kigeli was baptised in the Catholic Church in his teens, taking the Christian name Jean-Baptiste, and remained a devout Catholic throughout his life. and at the Nyangezi College in the modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo. After he finished school in 1956, "Kigeli" is sometimes transcribed as "Kigeri". Though married, Kigeli's late half-brother had had no children; the abrupt, shocking nature of the death prompted widespread talk of some kind of assassination having occurred. a view shared by the newly politically empowered Hutu elite. Kigeli himself also felt shocked and overwhelmed at the news of his ascension. as well as preventing Hutu interference. Despite this, Kigeli was initially favoured by all sides: Tutsi traditionalists, Hutu nationalists, and the Catholic clergy all felt optimistic on his appointment. The coup resulted in the 1961 referendum about the fate of the nation's royal system. He subsequently settled in Oakton, Virginia in Northern Virginia.

He travelled internationally to speak on behalf of the Rwandan people and repeatedly called for peace and harmony between the different groups. Kigeli continued to remember the victims of the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda and attempted to reconcile 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 and Congolese prime minister Patrice Lumumba.

In 1995, while in Southern California, Kigeli met author and historian Charles A. Coulombe, an American representative of the International Monarchist League, a London-based organization that attempts to reinstate deposed royalty in various parts of the world.

In an August 2007 BBC interview, Kigeli expressed an interest in returning to Rwanda if the Rwandan people were 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.

Charity

He was the head of the King Kigeli V Foundation, whose mission is to bring humanitarian initiatives on behalf of Rwandan refugees.

Death and succession

Kigeli died of a heart ailment at age 81 on the morning of 16 October 2016 in a hospital in Washington, D.C. His private secretary, Guye Pennington, said that an heir had been chosen and would be announced shortly. Kigeli never married, in obedience to a rule banning marriage for kings while they were out of the country. He is the son of the half-brother of Kigeli, Prince William Bushayija.

After Kigeli's death, it was revealed he had at least one daughter, Jacqueline Rwivanga, married to Andrew Rugasira (1998-2015) and a mother of five.

Ancestry

Honours

Status and recognition

As titular King in exile, as part of maintaining his royal family's cultural heritage, Kigeli V issued chivalric orders and titles of nobility with himself as fount of honour, in accordance with traditional customs.

Research in 2016 found that noble Rwandan titles were given to non-Rwandans by King Mutara III, the prior King of Rwanda. This was consistent with King Kigeli V's statements that his elder brother, when he reigned as King, granted orders and noble titles to non-Rwandans. An independent article confirming this was printed in an article titled "African King Gets Papal Honor from Vatican" in The Guardian, a publication of the Diocese of Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, 4 July 1947.

The titles are recognised by Burke's Peerage

Foreign titles

  • Solomonic dynastyː Ras

Foreign orders

Foreign orders and decorations received by the King:

  • 60px Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (House of Savoy)
  • 60px Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa (House of Braganza)
  • 60px Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Michael of the Wing (House of Braganza)
  • 60px Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Queen of Sheba (Solomonic dynasty)
  • 60px Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of Ethiopia (Ethiopian Empire)
  • 60px Knight (single rank order) of the Imperial Order of Solomon (Ethiopian Empire)
  • 60px Knight Grand Collar of the Royal Order of Ismail (Royal House of Egypt)
  • 60px Knight Grand Collar of the Order of the Eagle of Georgia (Royal House of Georgia)
  • 60px Knight Grand Collar of the Order of Merit of the Portuguese Royal House (House of Braganza)
  • 60x60px Knight Grand Cordon of the Royal and Hashemite Order of the Pearl (Royal House of Sulu)

References

  • Royal House of Rwanda (official website)
  • Last interview