Obituary - King Kigeli V, last king of Rwanda

Died: October 16, 2016

JEAN-BAPTISTE Ndahindurwa or King Kigeli V, who has died aged 80, was the last king of Rwanda. He was forced into exile just as the country began its descent into three decades of ethnic violence that culminated in the genocide of 1994 in which around 800,000 people died.

The exiled king never quite gave up on the crown though or the idea that he might return to reclaim it one day, although in recent years he had been living in America, supported by food stamps, private donations and the occasional sale of a knighthood.

He was born in Kamembe, Rwanda, the son of King Yuhi Masinga and Queen Makashema (his father had five wives and Kigeli was among 15 children by different women) and educated in Catholic schools.

On the death of King Masinga, Kigeli's half-brother Mutura succeeded to the throne, but then died in mysterious circumstances in 1959. After falling ill, a Belgian doctor gave him an injection and a few moments later he was dead.

As rumours circulated that Kigeli had been assassinated, Kigeli was declared the new king by the royal court elders, known as abiru, something which Kigeli says took him entirely by surprise.

"In the beginning, I was just shocked," he said. "I asked: how can this have happened? But then I said, okay, this is my responsibility. I have to be courageous. I can't go back. I've been given a responsibility, I have to fulfill it."

His reign was doomed to be a short one however. In November 1959, less than a month after his coronation, the Hutu revolted, killing hundreds of Tutsi and forcing many more into exile. Kigeli, who was of the Tutsi caste, was accused of being involved in revenge attacks on Hutu leaders and by July 1960 he had been forced into exile.

He returned the following year, smuggled into the country disguised as a woman, just before a referendum on the monarchy in which 80 per cent of those who voted said they were opposed to a continuation of the monarchy. Supporters of Kigeli said the vote was rigged.

In exile again, Kigeli lived in a number of African countries, including Uganda where Idi Amin provided him with a house, before moving to America, where he was granted political asylum.

He always kept in touch with his homeland though and organised medical and financial aid for Rwandan orphans and refugees. In the early 1990s, he also predicted the terrible genocide to come and in early 1994 sent a memo to the United Nations predicting chaos. A little over two weeks later, the genocidal violence began. Around 800,000 people were killed.

Kigeli never returned to Rwanda, although right up until the end of this life he had hopes that he would. Latterly, he lived in Washington, partly with the support of the Monarchist League, which promotes monarchy around the world. He never had married or had children.