Pierre-Claver Nuwinkware (

Kirundi Kirundi (), also known as Rundi, is a Bantu language and the national language of Burundi. It is mutually intelligible with Kinyarwanda, the national language of Rwanda, and the two form parts of the Rwanda-Rundi dialect continuum spoken in Buru ...

: Petro Claveri Nuwinkware; died 1972) was a Burundian politician.

Early life

Pierre-Claver Nuwinkware was ethnically

Hutu The Hutu (), also known as the Abahutu, are a Bantu ethnic group native to the African Great Lakes region. They mainly live in Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda where they form one of the principal ethnic groups alongside the Tutsi and the Great L ...

. He was educated in Catholic schools.

Political career

Nuwinkware was a member of the

Union for National Progress The Union for National Progress (, UPRONA) is a nationalist political party in Burundi. Initially it emerged as a nationalist united front in opposition to Belgian colonial rule but subsequently became an integral part of the one-party state esta ...

(''Union pour le Progrès national''). In September 1961

Louis Rwagasore Prince Louis Rwagasore (; 10 January 1932 – 13 October 1961) was a Burundian prince and politician, who was the second prime minister of Burundi for two weeks, from 28 September 1961 until his assassination on 13 October. Born to the Ganwa f ...

became Prime Minister of Burundi and formed a government with Nuwinkware as

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

. Following Rwagasore's assassination,

André Muhirwa André Muhirwa (1920 – 28 April 2003) was a Burundian politician who served as prime minister of Burundi from 1961 to 1963. He became prime minister following the assassination of his predecessor, Louis Rwagasore. A member of the Union for Natio ...

became prime minister. Politically, Muhirwa worked to prevent Hutus from gaining influence in government. Nevertheless, Nuwinkware remained a loyal member of his cabinet. He signed the promulgation order of the 1962

Constitution of the Kingdom of Burundi The Definitive Constitution of the Kingdom of Burundi (; ), sometimes called the "independence constitution", was the constitution of the independent Kingdom of Burundi from its promulgation in 1962 until its suspension in 1966. Background Fr ...

along with Mwami Mwambutsa IV and Muhirwa. Mwambutsa attempted to intervene in national politics to temper ethnic and political divides, but Nuwinkware resisted this, garnering the Mwami's ire. In late February 1963 Hutu political leader

Paul Mirerekano Paul Mirerekano (1921 – October 1965) was a Burundian politician. Ethnically Hutu, he worked as an agronomist for the Belgian colonial administration in Ruanda-Urundi before starting a successful market garden in Bugarama. Politically, he w ...

was arrested, but Nuwinkware ordered him released on 1 March. The Ministry of Justice also published a pamphlet in tribute to Rwagasore which he reportedly authored. Muhirwa's government collapsed later that year and in June

Pierre Ngendandumwe Pierre Ngendandumwe (1930 – 15 January 1965) was a Burundian politician and statesman who served as the Prime Minister of Burundi in two terms, first from 1963 to 1964 and second for only eight days in January 1965. An ethnic Hutu, he was a me ...

formed a government with Nuwikware as Minister of Social Affairs. Ngendandumwe was dismissed in June 1964 and replaced by

Albin Nyamoya Albin Nyamoya (27 July 1924 – 31 January 2001) was the Prime Minister of Burundi from 6 April 1964 — 7 January 1965 and again from 14 July 1972— 5 June 1973. Early life Nyamoya was born in 1924 in Ibuye. He was ethnically a Tutsi. He wa ...

, who retained Nuwinkware in the same portfolio. In January 1965 Ngendandumwe formed a new government with Nuwinkware as Minister of Justice, but was shortly thereafter killed. His successor,

Joseph Bamina Joseph Bamina (15 March 1927 – 15 December 1965) was a politician serving as President of the Senate of Burundi when he was assassinated. He had been prime minister for less than a year, member of the Union for National Progress (French: Uni ...

, retained Nuwinkware in the office. In 1965 Nuwinkware was co-opted into the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. Following a failed coup attempt by Hutu soldiers later that year, he was arrested by the government.

Later life

Nuwinkware was released from prison in April 1966 but briefly detained again in August. He then found employment at the Official University of Bujumbura, working as its administrative director. During the

Ikiza The (variously translated from Kirundi as the Catastrophe, the Great Calamity, and the Scourge), or the (Killings), was a series of mass killings—often characterised as a genocide—which were committed in Burundi in 1972 by the Tutsi-domina ...

in May 1972 he was arrested by the government for alleged subversion and subsequently executed.

References

Works cited

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nuwinkware, Claver Hutu people Justice ministers of Burundi Union for National Progress politicians People who died in the Ikiza 1972 deaths