Jean‐Marie Ngendahayo (born 1956) is a Burundian politician.

Early life and education

Jean‐Marie Ngendahayo was born in 1956 in

Cibitoke Province Cibitoke Province is one of the 18 provinces of Republic of Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked cou ...

Ruanda-Urundi Ruanda-Urundi (), later Rwanda-Burundi, was a colonial territory, once part of German East Africa, which was occupied by troops from the Belgian Congo during the East African campaign in World War I and was administered by Belgium under militar ...

. Ethnically, he is

Ganwa Ganwa is the name for the princely group that traditionally ruled Burundi. They formed a distinct social class that was neither Hutu nor Tutsi The Tutsi (), or Abatutsi (), are an ethnic group of the African Great Lakes region. They are a Bant ...

, though this category has been subsumed into the

Tutsi The Tutsi (), or Abatutsi (), are an ethnic group of the African Great Lakes region. They are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group and the second largest of three main ethnic groups in Rwanda and Burundi (the other two being the largest Bantu ethnic grou ...

ethnic group. He attended primary school from 1961 to 1969 and thereafter attended the Holy Spirit Lycée until 1976. That year he enrolled at the

University of Burundi The University of Burundi (french: Université du Burundi, or UB) is a public university located in Bujumbura, Burundi. Founded in 1964, it comprises eight faculties and five institutes and has a student enrollment of approximately 13,000. It is ...

, and he graduated from the institution in 1981 with a degree in Roman philology. He later married, having two daughters from his first marriage and a son from his second marriage. Ngendahayo initially worked as a teacher, but eventually took up a position with the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...

. He then worked for the

United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...

's Burundi office and the

United Nations Population Fund The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), formerly the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, is a UN agency aimed at improving reproductive and maternal health worldwide. Its work includes developing national healthcare strategies ...

Political career

In the early 1990s Burundi underwent a democratic transition and returned to multi-party politics. In February 1991 Ngendahayo became one of the twelve founding members of the Iteka League, a

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

association. He joined

Melchior Ndadaye Melchior Ndadaye (28 March 1953 – 21 October 1993) was a Burundian intellectual and politician. He was the first democratically elected and first Hutu president of Burundi after winning the landmark 1993 Burundi presidential election, 1993 elect ...

's political party, the

Front for Democracy in Burundi The Front for Democracy in Burundi (french: link=no, Front pour la Démocratie au Burundi, FRODEBU) is a Hutu progressive political party in Burundi. History It was formed by followers of Melchior Ndadaye from the disbanded Burundi Workers' ...

(FRODEBU). In Burundi's

legislative elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

held in June 1993, Ngendahayo was elected to a seat in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

representing Cibitoke. He became Minister of Communications in Prime Minister

Sylvie Kinigi Sylvie Kinigi (born 24 November 1953) is a Burundian politician and economist who served as Prime Minister of Burundi from 10 July 1993 to 7 February 1994, and acting president from November 1993 to 5 February 1994, making her the second African ...

's government on 10 July. In this capacity he suspended a newspaper's publication for attacking the president, but the Commission on Press Freedom overturned his decision. Later in 1993 Ngendahayo was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. In June 1995 he and United States Ambassador

Bob Krueger Robert Charles Krueger (September 19, 1935 – April 30, 2022) was an American diplomat, politician, and U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from Texas, a U.S. Ambassador, and a member of the Democratic Party. , he was the last Democrat t ...

were ambushed by rebels while traveling in a convoy in the countryside. The two escaped and were flown by helicopter back to the capital. He resigned from his post on 25 June and fled to

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

, South Africa, saying that the government was unable to provide for the safety of Burundian citizens. He came back to Burundi in 2002. In the 2005 Burundian legislative election Ngendahayo won a seat in the National Assembly on a

National Council for the Defense of Democracy – Forces for the Defense of Democracy The National Council for the Defense of DemocracyForces for the Defense of Democracy (french: Conseil National Pour la Défense de la DémocratieForces pour la Défense de la Démocratie, CNDD–FDD) is the major political party in Burundi. Durin ...

(CNDD-FDD) ticket. He subsequently rose to become chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs. In May he was appointed Minister of Interior. In September 2007 he left the CNDD-FDD, citing his unhappiness with the government's actions, particularly concerning human rights.

Later life

In 2008 Ngendahayo went into exile in the United States. He returned to Burundi two years later and began writing and teaching.

References

Works cited

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ngendahayo, Jean-Marie 1956 births People from Cibitoke Province Ganwa people Foreign ministers of Burundi Living people Front for Democracy in Burundi politicians National Council for the Defense of Democracy – Forces for the Defense of Democracy politicians University of Burundi alumni