 When RPF took power they were rewarded government and party jobs. But, with time, some of the big names fizzled from the limelight. Some managed to bounce back but others did not. Photos/FILE When the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) started the Liberation struggle, several men and women took on prominent roles in the political bureau and military wing — including negotiating, fundraising and even public relations for the movement.
When RPF took power they were rewarded government and party jobs. But, with time, some of the big names fizzled from the limelight. Some managed to bounce back but others did not. Rwanda Today looks at some of the RPF stalwarts who are presumably missing in action and what they are up to.
Patrick Mazimhaka
One of the RPF founders and among those who led from the front, he was Commissioner for External Relations when the RPF launched the armed struggle from Uganda on October 1, 1990. In 1993, Mr Mazimhaka was elected the vice-chairman of RPF, a position he held until 1998.
After RPF captured power, he held several ministerial positions, including in the Office of the President, until 2000 when he became Special Envoy of the President. Between 1994 and 1996 Rwanda was going through a major refugee crisis. For his pivotal role at a time when Rwanda’s foreign policy and diplomacy was under test, Mr Mazimhaka was nominated for, and subsequent elected in July 2003, the deputy chairperson of the African Union Commission.
By the time he left his Addis Ababa posting in February 2008, however, the outspoken man was reportedly no longer in good books with the party hierarchy. The politician and academic withdrew from public life. In a recent interview, he indicated that he had retired from politics to focus on consultancy and other business interests. He also took up speaking at conferences and corporate functions.
Jacques Bihozagara
Another of the RPF founding members, Mr Bihozagara was the ambassador to France in the early 2000s. Mr Bihozagara’s last prominent role was in 2006 when he testified in public hearings on France’s role in the Genocide against the Tutsi, having been at the helm of the RPF leadership in 1994.
Now in his mid-sixties, Mr Bihozagara is said to have retired from politics and diplomacy for, among other reasons, failing health and investing his pension in small-scale real estate projects and other businesses. He leads a modest life at his Kimihurura home. FULL STORY
|
