The family of the late King Kigeli V Ndahindurwa has dismissed the move to name an heir to the throne made by his former confidante living in the United States.

Within hours of the arrival of the body of the deceased king in Rwanda, Boniface Benzinge, the former monarch’s aide, announced that he would be succeeded by Emmanuel Bushayija, 56, the king’s nephew.

“The Rwandan Royal Council of Abiru (the king’s secrets guardians) hereby informs all Rwandans and friends of Rwanda that in keeping with the ancient custom, it has acclaimed Prince Emmanuel Bushayija as the successor of his late majesty,” Mr Benzinge said in a statement released on Tuesday.

“The royal name of His Majesty Emmanuel Bushayija shall be His Majesty King Yuhi VI," he added.

But, Pastor Ezra Mpyisi, a Rwandan elder and former advisor of the king, said the announcement by Mr Benzinge cannot be recognised.

“He cannot name the new king because he is in no position to do so. He has no powers to do so because he is not part of the royal family or related to the king in anyway,” Mr Mpyisi said when he spoke to journalists on Wednesday in Kigali.

The pastor accused Mr Benzinge of having vested interests in the monarchy claiming that that was the reason why he, along with others, did not want the king’s remains repatriated to Rwanda.

Last week, Mr Bushayija and Mr Benzinge lost a court battle over the final resting place of late king following his demise, aged 80, on October 16, 2016 in Virginia, US, where he had lived since 1992.

The US court ruled in favour of the late king’s sister, Speciosa Mukabayojo, whom it said was the closest kin and therefore should make the final decision of where King Kigeli was to be buried.

“We were delighted when the judge ruled that Mukabayojo was one of the few remaining close relatives of the king and hence the rest were just distant relatives who should have no say in the final resting place of the king,” Mr Mpyisi said.

Hasty repatriation

Following the January 4th ruling, Mr Mpyisi said they had to move with speed to repatriate the body to Rwanda because they learnt that there were plans to transfer the remains to Portugal.

“When we got to the hospital to claim the body of the king, we found that there was a document indicating that the body was to be released and sent to Portugal where he would be buried, because there were groups which supported the king and wanted him buried there.

“We presented the court ruling and the hospital relied on it to give us the body. We did what we could as quickly as possible to have the body repatriated to Rwanda,” he added.

Flanked by relatives of the king, Mr Mpyisi said that Mr Benzinge and the others were free to come to Rwanda and participate in the final ceremony to bury the king.

The burial is set for Sunday January 15, at Mwima, Nyanza district, in the southern province of Rwanda where the rest of the kings are buried. He will be laid to rest next to King Mutara III Rudahigwa, his elder brother and predecessor.

Succession

The king’s relatives in Rwanda are yet to announce who will succeed him to the throne in line with Rwandan culture and tradition.

Mr Mpyisi said Mr Bushayija is “a king of only two people.”

Born on December 20, 1960 in Rwanda, Mr Bushayija grew up in exile in Uganda, and later worked for Pepsi Cola in Kampala.

He later moved to Kenya where he worked in the tourism industry, before returning to Rwanda in July 1994. He left Rwanda in 2000 for the United Kingdom where he lives with his family. He later became a British citizen by naturalisation.

The king’s succession, however, seems to fly in the face of government’s stand on the kingship.

According to the Executive Secretary of the Rwanda Academy of Languages and Culture (RALC), Dr James Vuningoma, as far as the Kigali government is concerned there can be no new king because “Rwanda is a republic governed by a constitution and ceased to be a monarchy many years ago”.

King Kigeli V, considered Rwanda’s last monarch, ascended to the throne in 1959 and was overthrown in 1961, forcing him into exile. Following his exit, Belgium, then the colonial power in Rwanda, swiftly abolished the kingdom and declared the country a republic.

Prior to moving to the US, King Kigeli first fled to Uganda, moved to Tanzania where he lived for a decade before returning to Kampala. He lived in Kenya from 1979 and left for the US in June 1992.

There had been efforts by the current government to repatriate him but he remained adamant to return as a private citizen as the government suggest.