Jean-Baptiste
Ndahindurwa, King Kigeli V, the last king of Rwanda has died in the United
States. He was 80.
Kigeli V, who
ruled the east African nation for less than a year before being forced into
exile, finally settling in the United States, died on Sunday morning, according
to information on his official website.
Details of his
death have not been released.
“It is
with a very heavy heart that we announce that His Majesty King Kigeli V
Ndahindurwa, the last King of Rwanda, died early this morning,” read a
statement on his website.
“He was a
devout and dedicated believer and the last anointed African Roman Catholic king
to reign over a full country.”
“Funeral
arrangements and details on the heir to the throne will be announced at a later
date,” the statement said.
He came to
power in 1959 but was only king of Rwanda until 1961, when the monarchy was
abolished and he was forced into exile.
King Kigeli
was the last in a line of monarchs from the minority Tutsi ethnic group, which
had dominated Rwandan for many years, but the Belgian former colonial power
favoured the majority Hutus and backed a coup.
Rwanda was proclaimed
a republic in 1961, and a Hutu, Dominique Mbonyumutwa, was made president.
Thousands of
Tutsis were forced into exile including King Kigeli, who lived the rest of his
life outside Rwanda.
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