Fred Gisa Rwigema (10 April 1957—2 October 1990), born Emmanuel Gisa (his name sometimes erroneously spelled as Fred Rwigyema (Kinyarwanda can not have a 'gy' combination, as they morph into 'jy', pronounced as 'gy')), was a founding member of the Rwandese Patriotic Front and is considered a hero in Rwanda's history, though he spent most of his life outside Rwanda.^{[citation needed]} April 10 is the 100th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (101st in leap years). ... 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... October 2 is the 275th day (276th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 90 days remaining. ... MCMXC redirects here; for the Enigma album, see MCMXC a. ... Contents // Categories: Bantu languages | Languages of the Democratic Republic of the Congo | Languages of Rwanda | Languages of Uganda | Language stubs ... 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. ...

Rwigema was born in Gitarama, in the south of Rwanda. Considered an ethnic Tutsi, he and his family fled to Uganda and settled in a refugee camp in Nshungerezi, Ankole in 1960 following the so-called Hutu Revolution of 1959 and the ouster of King Kigeri V. Gitarama is one of the 12 provinces (intara) of Rwanda and is situated in the centre of the country, to the west of the capital Kigali. ... 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. ... Kigeri V Ndahindurwa was King (Mwami) of Rwanda from 1959-1961. ...

After finishing high school in 1976, he went to Tanzania and joined the Front for National Salvation (FRONASA), a rebel group headed by Yoweri Museveni, the brother of his friend Salim Saleh. It was at this point that he began calling himself Fred Rwigema. Later that year, he travelled to Mozambique and joined the FRELIMO rebels who were fighting for the liberation of Mozambique from Portugal's colonial power 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... The Front for National Salvation (FRONSA) was a Ugandan rebel group formed by Yoweri Museveni in 1973. ... Yoweri Kaguta Museveni (born c. ... Caleb Akandwanaho (14 January 1960-), popularly known as Salim Saleh, is a general in the UPDF, the armed forces of Uganda. ... The Mozambican Liberation Front (FRELIMO, pronounced fray-LEE-moo; Portuguese: Frente de Libertação de Moçambique) is a political party that has ruled Mozambique since independence in 1975. ...

In 1979, he joined the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA), which together with Tanzanian armed forces captured Kampala in April 1979 and sent Idi Amin to exile. UNLA (Uganda National Liberation Army) is the military arm of the Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLF). ... The Tanzania Peoples’ Defence Force (TPDF) (swahili: Jeshi la Wananchi la Tanzania - JWTZ) was created in September 1964. ... Kampala is the capital city of Uganda. ... Idi Amin Dada (c. ...

He later joined Museveni's National Resistance Army (NRA), which fought a guerilla war against the government of Milton Obote. The National Resistance Army (NRA) began as a guerilla army of Uganda in the 1980s, led by Yoweri Museveni. ... Obote pictured at the beginning of his second regime in 1980 Apollo Milton Obote (December 28, 1924, Apac, Uganda – October 10, 2005, Johannesburg, South Africa), Prime Minister of Uganda 1962-1966 and President of Uganda 1966-1971/1980-1985, was a Ugandan political leader who led Uganda to independence in...

After the NRA captured state power in 1986, Rwigyema became the deputy Minister of Defence. He was regularly at the front line in northern Uganda during the new government's offensives against remnants of the ousted regime.

Sources in Uganda say that Rwigyema was one of the contingent of officers and men who raided the home of the former rebel leader of the Uganda Freedom Movement, Andrew Kayiira, and Rwigyema was at Kayiira's home the night Kayiira was shot dead, March 7, 1987. March 7 is the 66th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (67th in leap years). ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Profile at The New Times (Rwanda)