Landoald 'Lando' Ndasingwa (died 7 April 1994) was a

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

n politician and businessman. He was killed on the first day of the

Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed Hutu ...

Ndasingwa founded the hotel

Chez Lando Chez Lando is a hotel and restaurant located in the Rwandan capital city, Kigali. The hotel was founded in the 1980s by prominent Rwandan businessman and politician Lando Ndasingwa, and his Canadian wife Hélène, who were both killed in the 1994 ...

in the 1980s with his Canadian wife Hélène. Following Ndasingwa's death, the hotel was taken over by his sister

Anne-Marie Kantengwa Anne-Marie Kantengwa was born in 1953 in Jabana, near Kigali, Rwanda. She is a businesswoman and a former Rwandan Patriotic Front (FPR) deputy in the Parliament of Rwanda. Early life Anne Marie Kantengwa is a Rwandan genocide The Rwand ...

. Educated at the Collège Saint-André of Kigali, the Université Nationale du Rwanda at Butare,

Université Laval Université Laval is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university was founded by royal charter issued by Queen Victoria in 1852, with roots in the founding of the Séminaire de Québec in 1663 by François de Montm ...

at Quebec City,

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

, and

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (UdeM; ; translates to University of Montreal) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte- ...

, Ndasingwa was a former professor at the Université Nationale du Rwanda and ethnic

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 ...

. As a politician, he was the leader and vice president of the moderate

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

and was granted the portfolio of Minister of Labour and Social Affairs in the Habyarimana transitional government put in place after the Arusha Accords. He was the only Tutsi member of the transitional government. On February 17, 1994,

UNAMIR The United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 872 on 5 October 1993. It was intended to assist in the implementation of the Arusha Accords, signed on 4 August 1993, wh ...

commander

Roméo Dallaire Roméo Antonius Dallaire (born June 25, 1946) is a Canadian humanitarian, author, retired senator and Canadian Forces lieutenant-general. Dallaire served as force commander of UNAMIR, the ill-fated United Nations peacekeeping force for Rwanda ...

received information of a plot to assassinate Ndasingwa and Joseph Kavaruganda, both prominent political moderates. In his book '' Shake Hands with the Devil'', Dallaire claims that he informed them of this plot, and neither were surprised. As an outspoken and well-known public figure, Ndasingwa was the frequent target of attacks on propaganda radio station RTLM. On April 7, following Habyarimana's death, Ndasingwa and his

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

wife, Hélène Pinski, both graduates of the

, were abducted from their house along with their two children, Malaika and Patrick (age 17 and 15), and Ndasingwa's mother by the government's Presidential Guard, despite being under UNAMIR protection. All were subsequently killed. During his final moments, he and his family requested UNAMIR troops for protection as the presidential guard assaulted their home, his final words being "It's too late." One of his sisters,

Louise Mushikiwabo Louise Mushikiwabo (born 22 May 1961) is the fourth and current Secretary General of Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. She previously served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Rwanda from 2009 to 2018. She also se ...

, became much later (December 2009) Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation in

Paul Kagame Paul Kagame (; born 23 October 1957) is a Rwandan politician and former military officer who is the 4th and current president of Rwanda since 2000. He previously served as a commander of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a Uganda-based rebel ...

's government, and, then (October, 2018), Secretary General of the

Organisation internationale de la Francophonie The (OIF; sometimes shortened to the Francophonie, french: La Francophonie , but also called International Organisation of in English-language context) is an international organization representing countries and regions where French is a ...

.Mushikiwabo's Autobiography on the site crimesofwar.org

References

External links

1994 deaths Year of birth missing People who died in the Rwandan genocide Rwandan murder victims Foreign ministers of Rwanda Labour ministers of Rwanda Social affairs ministers of Rwanda Tutsi people Liberal Party (Rwanda) politicians {{Rwanda-politician-stub