Background
Juvénal Habyarimana was born on March 8, 1937 in Rambura, Gisenyi, Rwanda. He was a son of Jean-Baptiste Ntibazilikana and Suzanne Nyirazuba.
Juvénal Habyarimana was born on March 8, 1937 in Rambura, Gisenyi, Rwanda. He was a son of Jean-Baptiste Ntibazilikana and Suzanne Nyirazuba.
After local education he went to Lovaniura University, Kinshasa, with a good academic record.
His mind set on an army career, he won a place in 1960 at the Officers’ Training College at Kigali. His instructors were impressed with his aptitudes that they sent him on a parachute training course in Belgium. First in the passing-out parade, he quickly proved his abilities as a well-trained officer.
In June 1965 he was promoted army commander and in November 1965 he was appointed to the Cabinet as Defence Minister. He won popularity in Parliament but he made sure he did not lose it in the army. He made frequent visits to the main units and kept in close touch with his fellow officers.
Factionalism reached a point where Habyalimana, despite his long-standing loyalty to Kayibanda, could no longer ignore demands for action. There was no venom at his take-over. He put Kayibanda under house arrest but stressed that he remained a person “for whom we still have great esteem.” His insistence upon good relations with his neighbours brought friendly messages from President Micombero of Burundi and President Amin of Uganda.
An eight-point declaration drawn up by Habyalimana banned all political activity, deposed the government and authorised civil servants to run day-today affairs, established the Committee for Peace and National Unity, empowered commanders on the spot to run the prefectures, suspended all Party organisations, dissolved the National Assembly, urged all foreigners to continue business as usual, and pledged to observe all international obligations. He was quick to give personal assurances of the stability of the new administration to the ambassadors of Belgium, France, West Germany and the USA.
President, Committee pour la Paix et l'Unité National, 1973-1975. Leader Mouvement Revolutionnaire national pour la Development, since 1975.
Charismatic young officer who became Defence Minister at the age of 25 and President at 33. His bloodless coup was not unexpected; the main surprise was that he resisted northern pressures to seize power from the shy, rather ineffectual President Grégoire Kayibanda for so long. As a man of moderation he took care not to reveal any marked political enthusiasms for the left or the right. His first act was to ban all political activity although it was typical of his honesty and courtesy that he met the former ministers and assured them of their safety provided they avoided political activity.
Habyarimana is survived by his wife, Agathe Habyarimana, who was evacuated by French troops shortly after his death. She has been described as having been extremely influential in Rwandan politics. She has been accused by Rwandan justice minister Tharcisse Karugarama of complicity in the genocide and was denied asylum in France on the basis of evidence of her complicity. She was arrested March 2010 in the Paris region by police executing a Rwandan-issued international arrest warrant. In September 2011, a French court denied Rwanda extradition of Agathe Habyarimana.