Alexia Uwera Mupende (17 November 1984 – 8 January 2019) was a

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

n model, actress and fitness expert, who at the time of her death, was the

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

at ''Waka Fitness'', in

Kigali Kigali () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali is a relativ ...

, the capital city of Rwanda.

Early life and education

Alexia Uwera was born in

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

. She attended school in

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

, obtaining her O-Level certificate from

Namasagali College Namasagali College is a mixed boarding middle and high school located in Kamuli District in Eastern Uganda. Location The school is situated on a campus at Namasagali, approximately , by road, northwest of the town of Kamuli, where the distric ...

Kamuli District Kamuli District is a district in the Eastern Region of Uganda. The town of Kamuli is the site of the district headquarters. Location Kamuli District is bordered by Buyende District to the north, Luuka District to the east, Jinja District to th ...

. She went on to obtain her

High School Diploma A high school diploma (sometimes referred to as a high school degree) is a diploma awarded upon graduation of high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary s ...

from St. Lawrence College, in the Central Region of Uganda. After that she transferred to Rwanda where she graduated with a

Bachelor of Information Technology A Bachelor of Information Technology (abbreviations BIT or BInfTech) is an undergraduate academic degree that generally requires three to five years of study. While the degree has a major focus on computers and technology, it differs from a Bache ...

from the

University of Rwanda University of Rwanda (, ) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate, multi campus university based in Kigali, Rwanda. Formed in 2013 through the merger of previously independent education institutions, the University of Rwanda is the largest ...

Career

Alexia Mupende was an international model, who had represented her country, Rwanda, at fashion events in

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kampala, Kawempe Division, Kawempe, Makindy ...

, Uganda,

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, Switzerland,

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

, United Arab Emirates,

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

, Sri Lanka and

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

, India. To supplement her modelling income, she served as the general manager of ''Waka Fitness'', a fitness club in the city of Kigali.

Death

On the evening of Tuesday, 8 January 2019, the body of Alexia Uwera Mupende was found in one of the bedrooms at her father's home in Nyarugunga Sector,

Kicukiro District Kicukiro District is one of the three Districts which constitute the City of Kigali and is situated in the South-East of the City of Kigali. Is a district (''akarere'') located in Kigali Province, Rwanda. Kicukiro is home to a thriving market, a ...

, a suburb of the city of Kigali. She had been stabbed multiple times. Rwandan security officials announced that they were looking for Antoine Niyireba, aged 23 years, who was a domestic worker at the deceased's parent's home. He was the prime suspect in the murder.

Other considerations

At the time of her death, she was engaged to be married in February 2019, and the invitations for the wedding had been released.

References

External links