Dominique Mbonyumutwa
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Dominique Mbonyumutwa | |
|---|---|
| President of Rwanda | |
| In office 28 January 1961 – 26 October 1961 | |
| Succeeded by | Grégoire Kayibanda |
| Vice President of the Court of Appeals of Rwanda | |
| In office 30 October 1961 – 30 October 1964 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 1921 Gitarama, Rwanda[1] |
| Died | 26 July 1986 (aged 65) Brussels, Belgium[2] |
| Political party | MDR-Parmehutu |
| Spouse | Sophie Mbonyumutwa |
| Profession | Teacher |
Dominique Mbonyumutwa (January 1921 – 26 July 1986) was a Rwandan politician who served as the first president of Rwanda from 28 January 1961 until 26 October 1961. He was elected as the first president of Rwanda in a meeting of the representatives of the majority of the Rwandan people (i.e a meeting of all Rwandan mayors called by the majority Rwandan parties) held in the Gitarama stadium on 28 January 1961, which decided to overthrow King Kigeli V Ndahindurwa, to abolish the Rwandan monarchy, to establish a republic and to elect the first president. Following that Rwandan people representatives' decision, King Kigeli V Ndahindurwa, from his exile in Congo, called upon the UN to not recognize the new Rwandan authorities. The UN responded by asking the Rwandan authorities to organise a referendum to determine if the Rwandan people were in favour of the decisions to abolish the Rwandan monarchy and to establish a republic. The referendum known as the 1961 referendum was organised on 25 October 1961 , concurrent with parliamentary elections. The referendum asked two questions: whether the monarchy should be retained after independence planned for the following year, and whether the incumbent, Kigeli V, should remain King.
The result was a "no" to both questions from 80% of voters, with a 95% turnout. King Kigeli claimed the vote had been rigged. Thereafter, on 26 October 1961, the parliament held a meeting during which the parliament voted in favour of a strong presidential regime by which the president would also be the chief of the government and elected Grégoire Kayibanda, as chief of the party that had won the parliamentary elections, the same party Dominique Mbonyumutwa belonged to, and who was serving as prime minister during the presidency of Dominique Mbonyumutwa during the interim period, as president of the Rwandan republic in replacement of Dominique Mbonyumutwa.
Mbonyumutwa was of Hutu ethnicity and was respected by the population both before and after his presidency. On 1 November 1959, while serving as a sous-chef (equivalent to a district mayor today), he was assaulted by a group of Tutsi youth in Byimana in Southern Province. This incident triggered the "social revolution" of November 1959,[3] which eventually brought down the monarchy while driving hundreds of thousands of Rwandan Tutsi into decades-long exile.
Mbonyumutwa was succeeded as president by Grégoire Kayibanda a few months before Rwanda's independence. After his presidency, he maintained a position in Rwandan politics by serving as Vice President of the Rwandan Court of Appeals and held an honorary position as Chancellor of National Orders in the service of the subsequent president Juvenal Habyarimana.[4] He died in July 1986 in Belgium and was buried in Gitarama Stadium, the site where the Republic was proclaimed in 1961, as a recognition to the country. In 2010 his remains were exhumed and reburied in a public cemetery due to the plans to redevelop the stadium.
References
- ^ Rwanda politique: Documents prיsentיs par F. Nkundabagenzi - Centre de recherche et d'information socio-politiques - Google Books. 2010-06-01. Retrieved 2012-01-10 – via Google Books.
- ^ Keesing's record of world events - Google Books. 2008-04-08. Retrieved 2012-01-10 – via Google Books.
- ^ Guichaoua, André (2015). From War to Genocide: Criminal Politics in Rwanda, 1990–1994. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 7. ISBN 9780299298203.
- ^ "Présidence de Dominique Mbonyumutwa". www.dominiquembonyumutwa.info. Retrieved 2016-01-19.
External links
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