Agathe Habyarimana (born Agathe Kanziga in 1942) is the widow of former President of Rwanda Juvénal Habyarimana. Kanziga is part of a Hutu lineage that long ruled an independent principality until the late nineteenth century.
She was frequently regarded as one of the powers behind the throne during her husband's 20-year presidency, and her family connections to powerful Hutu politicians are often regarded as having provided necessary political ca...
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Agathe Habyarimana (born Agathe Kanziga in 1942) is the widow of former President of Rwanda Juvénal Habyarimana. Kanziga is part of a Hutu lineage that long ruled an independent principality until the late nineteenth century.
She was frequently regarded as one of the powers behind the throne during her husband's 20-year presidency, and her family connections to powerful Hutu politicians are often regarded as having provided necessary political capital for Habyarimana. She was the centre of a powerful clique of northern Hutus called le clan de Madame or akazu (Kinyarwanda for "little house").
On April 9, 1994, immediately following Habyarimana's assassination and the beginning of the Rwandan Genocide, she was airlifted out of Rwanda by French troops. In this exodus she was accompanied by thirty other members of the akazu, including Ferdinand Nahimana, director of Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines. Upon arrival in Paris, she received a gift of ₣ 230 000 from the French...
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