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King Kigeli V's final homecoming

Friday January 20 2017
kigeli

The funeral service and burial ceremony at Mwima hill, the final resting place of King Kigeli V. PHOTO | CYRIL NDEGEYA

As six men walked under the weight of a silver coffin, the young and old craned their necks to have a better view of King Kigeli V Ndahindurwa’s last journey.

They were witnesses to history. It is not every day that Rwanda buries a monarch.

Two young men in traditional white Rwandan attire, the umushanana, all from the royal lineage of Hindiro trailed the procession. The duo attracted attention because of what they carried.

One was holding a big black and white portrait of a young King Kigeli V, probably taken a few days after his enthronement in 1959, while the other carried a pillow on which lay the royal crown, a symbol of the deceased’s status. The Mwami (king), 80, who died in the US last October, was laid to rest in in the township of Nyanza in the south of Rwanda, two months after his death.

“I was here when Kigeli was crowned king and I am blessed to be present in his send off ceremony” said Emmanuel Kagabo, 78, a retired police officer.

Not everybody got a seat under the three white ceremonial tents elevated on a paved ground in Rukari royal palace — that served as the residence of King Mutara III Rudahigwa, King Kigeli V’s brother and predecessor — and is now the King’s Palace Museum; a living testimony of Rwanda’s monarchy.

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“I am very happy that the body of my brother is buried on the hill where he was enthroned,” said Speciose Mukabayojo, King Kigeli’s sister in a speech read by her grandson.

Looking exhausted and her face etched with sorrow, Mukabayojo braved the scorching sun during the two-hour long requiem mass that replaced the traditional royal funeral (Inziray’ikirogoto) that would last for four years.

For some, the Mass celebrated by Bishop Philippe Rukamba of Butare Diocese confirmed the popular Kinyarwanda saying, Kiriziyayakuyekirazira, meaning the church has replaced culture. King Kigeli V was a Roman Catholic convert. His brother, King Mutara III Rudahigwa, was a convert too and was the first Rwandan monarch to convert to Christianity. It is in this town that the King Mutara III Rudahigwa dedicated Rwanda to Christ the King in the year 1946. He too was buried according to Catholic rites.

No throne but good name

“We should thank God that even though he died with no throne he maintained his good name,” said Pastor Ezra Mpyisi, an elder and former advisor of the king, who also led a team of the royal family in a legal battle to have the king’s remains brought back to Rwanda for burial.

“He refused American citizenship for the sake of keeping Rwandan pride,” Mr Mpyisi added. He described the king as a man of integrity who challenged the colonialists and always had the interests of his country at heart.

He emphasised the monarch’s role in the return to Rwanda of thousands of citizens who had lived in exile for decades and condemned those who lack respect for the departed king.

“I am saddened by those who say that he did not do anything, while he went to the US in the search of support for Rwanda’s peace process after Habyarimana had categorically refused the repatriation of Rwandan refugees.

“Who among you can question this? Were you there?” asked Mr Mpyisi. “It was I who took him in, in the US and I was with him in whatever he did since I was his interpreter,” he explained.

Little government presence

Among the mourners was his majesty the Mwami Butsitsi Kahembe Isaac, the king of Bukumu, North Kivu in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Burundi royal family, the Ankole Kingdom, Toro Kingdom and Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II, the reigning Kabaka of the Kingdom of Buganda in Uganda sent their condolences.

The king’s burial was more of a family affair than a state function. As the funeral service and burial was taking place in Nyanza, 100km away in the Kigali Convention Centre, high-ranking government officials were taking part in the annual national prayer breakfast.

Minister of Sports and Culture Uwacu Julienne, who attended the burial, gave a brief speech and offered condolences and promises of continued state support to the king’s family.

Kale Kayihura, the Inspector General of the Uganda Police Force, attended in his individual capacity.

According to the royal family, the government assisted in the repatriation of the king’s remains and in the funeral service arrangements, but the family chose not to publicise the information.

End of a monarchy

It is on Mwima hill that King Mutara III Rudahigwa was buried following his sudden death in Bujumbura, Burundi in 1959. His wife Rosalia Gicanda, killed during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, was interred here too.

The graves at the royal burial grounds at Mwima hill are covered in black marble that is cleaned regularly by cleaners who also water the surrounding flower garden.

The burial of King Kigeli V at Mwima has not only put an end to a spat in the royal family, but has also closed a chapter in the country’s history and traditions.

The young man carrying the pillow with the royal crown walked back to the car that brought him, confirming that Nyanza will not be hosting a king, dead or alive, since as per tradition, none was announced.

But in the US, Boniface Benzinge, King Kigeli V’s former aide, proclaimed Emmanuel Bushayija, 56, the late king’s nephew, successor to the throne. The royal family has however dismissed the move with no indication of a way forward.

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