Joseph Kavaruganda

Joseph Kavaruganda (8 May 1935 – 7 April 1994) was a Rwandan jurist, and president of Rwanda's Constitutional Court. He was killed at the beginning of the Rwandan genocide.

Early life

Joseph Kavaruganda was born on 8 May 1935 in Tare, Ruanda-Urundi. He attended primary school in Tare, and then attended the Kigali Junior Seminary before studying law in Belgium, earning his Doctor of Philosophy in 1966. He returned to Rwanda in 1967 and took up work as a president of Caisse d’Epargne, a credit and savings institution.[1]

In 1974 Kavaruganda was appointed Prosecutor General of Rwanda.[1]

A prominent opponent of the Hutu Power ideology, Kavaruganda was known to be ill-regarded by some members of the MRND regime.[2] On 4 August 1993 the Rwandan government and the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) signed the Arusha Accords to end the Rwandan Civil War. As Chief Justice, Kavaruganda was responsible for swearing-in an interim president and transitional government, as stipulated by the agreement. That morning Juvénal Habyarimana was sworn in as President at the Parliament building, but then suddenly departed before calling up the new prime minister and cabinet to be inaugurated. Confused and surprised, Kavaruganda left. Habyarimana returned that afternoon with a list of new cabinet members to be sworn in from Hutu extremist parties which had not been agreed upon in the Arusha Accords. Having not been formally invited for a second ceremony, Kavaruganda did not appear and the suggested ministers were not sworn-in. Habyarimana was infuriated, and thereafter he and his political allies regarded Kavaruganda as an ally of the RPF.[3]

In early February 1994 members of the Interahamwe, a Hutu extremist militia, stoned Kavaruganda's car. The following day they stormed the Constitutional Court building, but Kavaruganda and his colleagues escaped through his office window.[1][3]

On February 17, 1994, UNAMIR commander Roméo Dallaire received information of a plot to assassinate Kavaruganda and Lando Ndasingwa. In his book Shake Hands with the Devil, Dallaire claims that he informed them of this plot, and neither were surprised. UNAMIR dispatched five Ghanaian soldiers to protect Kavaruganda's house. On April 7, members of the government's Presidential Guard arrived at his door, claiming they were taking him to safety. Kavaruganda's wife Annonciata Kavaruganda claims he knew this was a ruse, but went with them anyway, seeing no other option. He was killed later that day. According to Annonciata Kavaruganda, the Ghanaian soldiers were friendly with the Rwandan militiamen who had come for Kavaruganda, laughing and drinking together while the government soldiers beat her and her children.[4]

Footnotes
  1. Tabaro, Jean de la Croix (22 April 2014). "Tribute to Kavaruganda, the valiant constitution defender". The New Times. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  2. Neuffer, Elizabeth. The key to my neighbor's house: seeking justice in Bosnia and Rwanda (MacMillan 2002), page 98.
  3. Tabaro, Jean de la Croix (14 April 2015). "Inside Story: How Habyarimana Betrayed Opposition Politicians". KT Press. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  4. Carol Off. 2000. The Lion, the Fox, and the Eagle: A story of generals and justice in Rwanda and Yugoslavia. Random House. ISBN 0-679-31138-6.
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