It is with deep sorrow that I and the entire Idi Amin family recieved news about the death of King Kigeri V Ndahindurwa of Rwanda. We offer our condolences to his family and his subjects. His Royal Highness was offered asylum in Uganda by President Idi Amin. Many Rwandese lived happily in Uganda back then, with some even becoming Ugandans before joining the civil service, the police force and the military under President Idi Amin. The presidential bodyguard who saved as from the clutches of Tanzanians during the 1979 war, was a Rwandese born soldier called Captain Tirikwendera. President Idi Amin welcomed Rwandese refugees hospitably. And diplomacy simultaneouely required that he maintain relations with President Habyarimana. But in Uganda, the tutsi's (and all Rwandans for that matter) were at home under President Amin. My father stayed in touch with King Kigeri even after both had left Uganda. They talked regularly by phone when Kigeri was living in Nairobi and Amin was in Saudi Arabia in the 80's and 90's. Even then, President Idi Amin would assist him financially as much as possible. King Kigeri V Ndahindurwa was a humble man who maintained dignity even under difficult financial circumstances. He had a large family, many of whom we became acquainted with. They have since sought asylum in the US, Canada and Europe. I ask Rwanda authorities that he be accorded a state burial in his country. Let the people of Rwanda remember their great cultural heritage through him even in death. They deserve it, and have now probably woken to that part of themselves that might have been sidelined from their consciousness and knowledge. The process of healing is one that requires to let go of anger. Remember he left his country with hundreds of thousands of his subjects when tutsi's had to flee a previous genocide. He then watched as another massacre developed in his country in 1994. When peace returned, so did many of his subjects also return to Rwanda. Unfortunately, King Kigeri V Ndahindurwa was unable to do the same. Indeed his death in exile is a big shame for the new democracy and reconciliation in Rwanda. But the people should always have the choice to seek peace and harmony with themselves and with each other. Even now.
May His Soul Rest In Eternal Peace. Signed: Hussein Lumumba Amin Kampala, Uganda
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