Agathe Uwilingiyimana (1953 - 7 April 1994) was a Rwandan political figure. She served as Prime Minister of Rwanda from 18 July 1993 to her death on April 7, 1994. Her term was ended when she was assassinated during the opening stages of the Rwandan Genocide. She was Rwanda's first and to date only female prime minister. Agathe Uwilingiyimana. ... January 7 - President Harry S. Truman announces the United States has developed a hydrogen bomb. ... April 7 is the 97th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (98th in leap years). ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) The year 1994 was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by the United Nations. ... A politician is an individual involved in politics, sometimes this may include political scientists. ... List of the Heads of Government of Rwanda See Also: List of incumbents, List of Presidents of Rwanda, List of Kings of Rwanda. ... is the 199th day of the year (200th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ... April 7 is the 97th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (98th in leap years). ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) The year 1994 was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by the United Nations. ... The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass killing of the hundreds of thousands of ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutu sympathizers in Rwanda and was the largest atrocity during the Rwandan Civil War. ...

Early life

Agathe Uwilingiyimana, a Hutu, was born in 1953 in the village of Nyaruhengeri, some 140 km southeast of Kigali, Rwanda's capital city, to farming parents. Shortly after she was born the family emigrated from the border region of Butare to work in the Belgian Congo. Her father moved the family back to Butare when Uwilingiyimana was four. After success in public examinations she was educated at Notre Dame des Citeaux High School, and obtained the certificate to teach humanities at twenty. The Hutu are a Central African ethnic group, living mainly in Rwanda and Burundi. ... January 7 - President Harry S. Truman announces the United States has developed a hydrogen bomb. ... Kigali, population 851,024 (2005), is the capital and largest city of Rwanda. ... The National Museum of Rwanda at Butare Location of Butare in Rwanda Butare is a city (pop: 77,000), capital of the former Butare Province, Rwanda, that was dissolved on January 1, 2006. ... Motto: Travail et Progres (Work and Progress) The Belgian Congo Capital Léopoldville/Leopoldstad Political structure Colony Governor  - 1908-1910 Baron Wahis  - 1946-1951 Eugène Jacques Pierre Louis Jungers  - 1958-1960 Henri Arthur Adolf Marie Christopher Cornelis History  - Established 15 November, 1908  - Congolese independence 30 June, 1960 The Belgian... For other uses, see Humanities (disambiguation). ...

In 1976 she received an A-level certificate in mathematics and chemistry; she became a mathematics teacher in a Butare social school. In the same year she married Ignace Barahira, a fellow student from her village. Their first child was born later in the year; they would go on to have five children. Year 1976 Pick up sticks(MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The National Museum of Rwanda at Butare Location of Butare in Rwanda Butare is a city (pop: 77,000), capital of the former Butare Province, Rwanda, that was dissolved on January 1, 2006. ...

When she was thirty (in 1983) she taught chemistry at the National University of Rwanda. This was financially possible because her husband obtained a University Laboratory post at twice the salary of a math teacher. She received a B.Sc. in 1985, teaching chemistry for four years in the Butare academic schools. Rwandan media was later critical of her scientific education, as it was thought that girls should not study science. Year 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar). ... For other uses, see Chemistry (disambiguation). ... The National University of Rwanda (NUR; French: Université Nationale du Rwanda) is the largest university in Rwanda. ... This article is about the year. ...

Rise to prime minister

In 1986 she created a Savings and Credit Cooperative Society among the staff of the Butare academic school, and her high profile role in the self-help organization brought her to the attention of the Kigali authorities, who wanted to appoint decision makers from the discontented south of the country. In 1989 she became a director in the Ministry of Commerce. Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar). ...

She joined the Republican and Democratic Movement (MDR), an opposition party, in 1992, and four months later was appointed Minister of Education by Dismas Nsensiyaremye, the first opposition prime minister under a power-sharing scheme negotiated between President Juvenal Habyarimana and five major opposition parties. As education minister she abolished the academic ethnic quota system, awarding public school places and scholarships by open merit ranking. This decision earned her the enmity of the Hutu-extremist parties. Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ... Juvénal Habyarimana (March 8, 1937 - April 6, 1994) was president of Rwanda from 1973 until his death in 1994. ...

On July 17, 1993, after a meeting between President Habyarimana and all five parties, Agathe Uwilinigiyimana became the first woman prime minister of Rwanda, replacing Dr Nsensiyaremye, the man who had appointed her Minister of Education, and whose exoneration of the president was unpopular with the other parties. Since Uwilinigiyimana didn't have the power base of the other candidates, and was not wanted by Habyarima most observers believe that her appointment as prime minister was based on the political calculation by the President that she would divide the opposition, and by the opposition that she would be controllable. On the day of her appointment, Nsensiyareme suspended Uwilingiyimana's MDR membership. (The MDR had opposed the formation of any interim government excluding the rebel RPF.) is the 198th day of the year (199th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ...

Arusha accords

The Habyarimana-Uwilingiyimana government was still Hutu dominated, and had the daunting task of successfully negotiating a peace accord with the rebel Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF), the Tutsi-dominated guerilla movement. An agreement between Habyarimana, the five opposition parties (led ostensibly by Uwilingiyimana), and the RPF, was finally reached on August 4, 1993. Under the "Arusha accords", Habyarimana's ruling MRND would take the transitional presidency, and the Prime Minister would come from the MDR. Since the MDR has suspended Uwilingiyimana they chose Faustin Twagiramungu (who had been instrumental in suspending her) to replace her. The Hutu are a Central African ethnic group, living mainly in Rwanda and Burundi. ... The Rwandese Patriotic Front or Rwandan Patriotic Front, abbreviated as RPF (also often referred to as FPR from French: Front patriotique rwandais), is the current ruling political party of Rwanda, led by President Paul Kagame. ... The Tutsi are one of three native peoples of the nations of Rwanda and Burundi in central Africa, the other two being the Twa and the Hutu. ... is the 216th day of the year (217th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ... The Arusha Accords (also known as the Arusha Peace Agreement, or the Arusha negotiations) were a set of five accords (or protocols) signed by the Rwandese Patriotic Front and the Government of Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania on 4 August 1993, ending the civil war. ... Mouvement Républicain Nationale pour la Démocratie et le Développement (MRND, English: National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development) is a now-defunct political party in Rwanda. ... Faustin Twagiramungu (born 1945 in Cyangugu province) is an ethnic TWA politician in Rwanda. ...

Caretaker prime minister

President Habyarimana officially dismissed her as Prime Minister eighteen days after her appointment to the office, but she stayed on in a caretaker capacity for eight months, until her death in April 1994. This was despite being excoriated by all the Hutu-dominated parties, including her own MDR, and President Habyrimana's ruling party, which held a press conference in January 1994 attacking Uwilingiyimana for being a "political trickster".

The swearing in of the "Broad Based Transitional Government," or BBTG, was to have taken place on March 25, 1994. At that point, Uwilingiyimana was to have stepped down in favor of Faustin Twagiramungu, having been guaranteed a lower level ministerial post in the new government. However, the RPF did not appear at the ceremony, postponing the establishment of the new regime. She reached agreement with them that the new government would be sworn in on the following day. is the 84th day of the year (85th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) The year 1994 was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by the United Nations. ...

Assassination

The talks between President Habyarimana, Uwilingiyimana, and the Rwandan Patriotic Front were never concluded, because the president's plane was rocketed on April 6, 1994. In an interview with Radio France on the night of President Habyarimana's assassination, Uwilinigiyimana said that there would be an immediate investigation. She also said, in her last recorded words: is the 96th day of the year (97th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) The year 1994 was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by the United Nations. ... Radio France is the French public service radio broadcaster. ...

there is shooting, people are being terrorized, people are inside their homes lying on the floor. We are suffering the consequences of the death of the head of state, I believe. We, the civilians, are in no way responsible for the death of our head of state.

The UN peacekeeping force sent a Belgian escort to her home before 3am the following morning; they intended to take her to Radio Rwanda, from where she planned a dawn broadcast appealing for national calm. Uwilingiyimana's house was further guarded by five Ghanaian U.N. troops on the outside in addition to the ten Belgian troops. Inside the house, the family was protected by the Rwandan presidential guard, but between 6.55 and 7.15 the presidential guard surrounded the UN troops and told them to lay down their arms. Fatally, the blue berets ultimately complied (handing over their weapons just before 9 am). The United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda was a relief mission instituted by the United Nations to aid the implementation of the Arusha Accords, signed August 4, 1993 in order to ease tensions between the Hutu-dominated Rwandese government and the Tutsi rebels (for the most part centered in the... Radio Télévision Libre de Mille Collines (RTLM) was a Rwandan radio station which broadcast from 8 July 1993 to 31 July 1994. ... The United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda was a relief mission instituted by the United Nations to aid the implementation of the Arusha Accords, signed August 4, 1993 in order to ease tensions between the Hutu-dominated Rwandese government and the Tutsi rebels (for the most part centered in the...

Seeing the stand-off outside her home, Agathe Uwilingiyimana and her family took refuge in the Kigali U.N. volunteer compound around 8 am. Eye witnesses to the inquiry on U.N. actions say that Rwandan soldiers entered the compound at 10 am, and searched it for Agathe Uwilingiyimana; she was eventually found, with her husband, and they were shot and killed by the presidential guard on the morning of April 7, 1994. In his book, Me Against My Brother, Scott Peterson writes that the U.N. troops sent to protect Uwilingiyimana were castrated, gagged with their own genitalia, and then executed. April 7 is the 97th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (98th in leap years). ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) The year 1994 was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by the United Nations. ...

In his book Shake Hands with the Devil, UN commander Roméo Dallaire writes that Uwilingiyimana and her husband surrendered themselves to the genocidaires to save their children, who stayed successfully hidden in the adjoining housing compound for employees of the United Nations Development Programme. The children survived and were picked by Captain Diagne Mbaye, a UNAMIR military observer, who smuggled them into the Hôtel des Mille Collines.^[1] They were eventually resettled in Switzerland. Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda (ISBN 0786715103 / 0786714875) is a 2003 book by Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire of the Canadian Armed Forces, with help from Major Brent Beardsley. ... Lieutenant-General Roméo Alain Dallaire, OC, CMM, GOQ, MSC, CD, B.Sc, LL.D (h. ... The United Nations Development Programe (UNDP), the United Nations global development network, is the largest multilateral source of development assistance in the world. ... Captain Mbaye Diagne (?-31 May 1994) was a Senegalese Army officer and a United Nations military observer during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. ... The United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) was a relief mission instituted by the United Nations. ... Front of the hotel The Hôtel des Mille Collines is a large hotel in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda. ...

Major Bernard Ntuyahaga was indicted by the UN court for the murder of Agathe Uwilingiyimana and UN peacekeepers, but the charges were dropped [1] [2] [3] [4]. He was eventually convicted of murder of the peacekeepers.[5] Major Bernard Ntuyahaga, Rwandan Armed Forces, (probably born in 1952) was convicted by a Belgian court in the murders of ten United Nations peacekeepers at the start of the Rwandan Genocide. ...

Legacy

Though short, her political career was precedent-setting as one of the few female political figures in Africa. She was contemporaneous with Sylvie Kinigi, Prime Minister of Burundi. As a memorial to the late Rwandan Prime Minister, the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) established The Agathe Innovative Award Competition. The award funds educational and income generating projects aimed at improving the prospects of African girls. One of FAWE's founding members was Agathe Uwilingiyimana. Sylvie Kinigi (born 1952) was Prime Minister of Burundi from 10 July 1993 to 7 February 1994. ... The Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) is an organization which seeks to promote girls education in Africa, by making sure they have access to schools and are able to complete their studies and fulfill their potential. ...

Dismas Nsengiyaremye (born 1945) served as Prime Minister of Rwanda from 2 April 1992 to 18 July 1993. ... List of the Heads of Government of Rwanda See Also: List of incumbents, List of Presidents of Rwanda, List of Kings of Rwanda. ... is the 199th day of the year (200th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ... April 7 is the 97th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (98th in leap years). ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) The year 1994 was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by the United Nations. ... Jean Kambanda (born October 19, 1955) was the prime minister in the caretaker government of Rwanda from the start of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. ... List of the Heads of Government of Rwanda See Also: List of incumbents, List of Presidents of Rwanda, List of Kings of Rwanda. ... Grégoire Kayibanda (May 1, 1924-December 15, 1976) was a Rwandan politician. ... Sylvestre Nsanzimana (born 1936) served as Prime Minister of Rwanda from 12 October 1991 to 2 April 1992. ... Dismas Nsengiyaremye (born 1945) served as Prime Minister of Rwanda from 2 April 1992 to 18 July 1993. ... Jean Kambanda (born October 19, 1955) was the prime minister in the caretaker government of Rwanda from the start of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. ... Faustin Twagiramungu (born 1945 in Cyangugu province) is an ethnic TWA politician in Rwanda. ... Pierre-Célestin Rwigema (born 1953 in Gitarama province) is a Rwandan politician. ... Bernard Makuza (born 1961) is the current Prime Minister of Rwanda. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Rwanda. ...

References

• Hill, Kevin A. Agathe Uwilingiyimana. In Women and the Law, a Bio-Bibliographical Sourcebook, Rebecca Mae Salokar and Mary L. Volcansek, editors. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, pp. 323-328, 1996.

Lieutenant-General Roméo Alain Dallaire, OC, CMM, GOQ, MSC, CD, B.Sc, LL.D (h. ...

External links

• A complete biography from FAWE (Since the Forum for African Women Educationalists has created an award in her honour it is to be expected that this contains no criticism of Agathe Uwilingiyimana.)
• Report of the independent inquiry into the actions of the United Nations during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda - containing the complete findings of the inquiry about the morning of the assassination in the section "The crash of the Presidential plane; genocide begins". Although Lt Lotin, the blue beret commander, had been ordered not to surrender his weapons, his orders also included the U.N. directive not to fire unless fired upon, and by the time his commander told him to negotiate (rather than surrender) four of his men were already disarmed.