Among those whose lives were cut short during the darkest chapters of Rwanda’s history was the country’s last queen, Rosalie Gicanda.

Queen Gicanda was killed on a day like today, April 20, 1994, just weeks into the Genocide. She was the widow of King Mutara III Rudahigwa, one of Rwanda’s most prominent historical figures. Those who knew her remember a woman of remarkable humility and moral strength, who lived with quiet dignity even as the monarchy she represented was dismantled.

Born in Rwamagana in 1928, Rosalie Gicanda married King Mutara III in January 1942. After his death in July 1959, she continued to live in Rwanda, even as political change swept the country.

In 1961, amid the shift to a republic, President Grégoire Kayibanda expelled her from the royal palace in Nyanza in an effort to erase traces of the monarchy. She then settled in Butare, now Huye District, where she remained out of the public eye for over three decades.

Despite her quiet life under both the First and Second Republics, Queen Gicanda was consistently denied the honour and protection that her status warranted. A devout Catholic, she lived modestly with her elderly mother and a few companions who assisted with household chores.

When the Genocide began, Queen Gicanda sought protection from Butare Prefect Jean Baptiste Habyarimana, a man known for resisting the massacres. But following Habyarimana’s arrest and assassination on April 17, fear spread rapidly through her household. She turned to Ngoma’s mayor, Joseph Kanyabashi, for help—but he declined.

On April 20, soldiers led by Lieutenant Pierre Bizimana stormed her residence under orders from Captain Ildephonse Nizeyimana, who was then Head of Intelligence and Operations at the ESO military school.

They abducted Queen Gicanda and six other women, taking them to a site behind the former National Museum of Rwanda, where they were executed. Her 80-year-old mother and a young caretaker, initially left behind, were also killed shortly after. A local priest intervened to ensure she was buried with dignity, and Mayor Kanyabashi later dispatched prisoners to carry out the burial near her home.

Queen Gicanda’s legacy is not only remembered through history books but also through personal testimonies, including one from President Paul Kagame. In 2017, he shared in an interview with Jeune Afrique how the queen had once helped save his life.

In 1961, during attacks on Tambwe Hill, where his family lived, a letter from Queen Gicanda arrived inviting them to seek refuge in Nyanza. They escaped just before attackers reached their home, later fleeing to Mutara and eventually into exile in Uganda.

President Kagame also revealed in a 2024 interview that he returned to Rwanda in secret during his years in exile to visit the queen in Butare.

This year’s commemoration takes on renewed significance following the arrest of Brigadier General Jean Baptiste Gakwerere, one of Queen Gicanda’s alleged killers. Gakwerere, once Secretary-General of the FDLR militia group, was recently handed over to Rwanda by the M23 rebel group after being captured during fighting around Goma.

At the time of the Genocide, he was a lieutenant at ESO/Butare and a close associate of Captain Nizeyimana. He reportedly led a notorious unit known as the “New Formula” soldiers, responsible for many of the massacres in Butare, including the killing of Queen Gicanda and Prefect Habyarimana.

Three decades on, Queen Rosalie Gicanda remains a potent symbol of grace, resilience, and national tragedy. Her life and death continue to remind Rwandans of the human cost of hate, and the enduring need to uphold dignity, memory, and justice.

Queen Gicanda was killed on April 20, 1994, just weeks into the Genocide.

Queen Rosalie Gicanda was the widow of King Mutara III Rudahigwa, one of Rwanda’s most prominent historical figures.