Royal Family of Rwanda

[Benjamin]

Courtesy of Wikipedia:

King Kigeli V Ndahindurwa was the ruling King (Mwami) of Rwanda from 1959-1961.

He was born in 1935 in Kamembe, Rwanda. His Christian name is Jean-Baptiste. He received his education at Groupe Scolaire d'Astrida in Rwanda, and at Nyangezi College in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

When King Mutara Rudahigwa became king of Rwanda he made many changes - in 1954 he shared out of land between the Hutu and the Tutsi. He died under mysterious circumstances in 1959, and he was replaced on the throne by his younger brother Jean-Baptiste Ndahindurwa.

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 NationsDag Hammarskjold when the Belgian government exiled him. The coupe resulted in the overthrow of King Kigeli V and he initially fled into exile to Uganda.

In June 1992, he was granted political asylum by the United States and lives in Washington DC. Internationally he has traveled throughout, to speak on behalf of the Rwandan people and repeatedly called for peace and harmony between the different groups. King Kigeri 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.
King Kigeli V has been invited by Delta Phi Epsilon Alpha chapter at Georgetown University and gave a speech "The Rwanda Genocide The Most Preventable Tragedy of Our Time".

He currently heads the King Kigeli V Foundation which mission is to bring humanitarian initiatives on behalf of Rwandese refugees. King Kigeli V also awards the Royal Order of the Drum, the Royal Order of the Crown, the Royal Order of the Crested Crane and the Royal Order of the Intare to individuals for their outstanding service to His Majesty for their personal work to assist the people of Rwanda through humantarian projects.

Awards

• King Kigeli V was awarded the Gold Star Award from by the International Strategic Studies Association for Oustanding Contributions to Strategic Progress Through Humanitarian Achievement for his work for Rwandan refugees in Africa.
• On March 16, 2006, King Kigeli V was awarded the Grand Cross of both the Imperial Ethiopian Order of Saint Mary of Zion and of the Imperial Ethiopian Order of Solomon's Seal by Crown Prince Zera Yacob Amha Selassie of Ethiopia.