Paul Kagame

Biography

Paul Kagame was born on October 23, 1957, in Tambwe commune, southern Rwanda. When he was two years old, anti-Tutsi violence during the 1959 Social Revolution forced his family to flee to Uganda, where he grew up in refugee camps. As a young man, he joined Yoweri Museveni's National Resistance Army and rose to become head of military intelligence — gaining the tactical and strategic skills that would define his career. When the Rwandan Patriotic Front launched its first invasion of Rwanda from Uganda in 1990, Kagame was in the United States for military training; he returned immediately to take command after the RPF's initial leaders were killed. In April 1994, when President Habyarimana's plane was shot down and the genocide began, Kagame made the fateful decision to resume the RPF military offensive despite enormous international pressure to accept ceasefires. He believed — correctly — that any ceasefire would simply allow the genocide to continue. Over the next 100 days, the RPF fought a conventional war against the Rwandan Armed Forces while simultaneously attempting to rescue Tutsi survivors. On July 4, 1994, RPF forces captured Kigali, ending the genocide. Kagame became Vice President and de facto ruler of the new Rwanda, and has served as President since 2000. His rule has brought stability and economic development, but also significant authoritarian repression of political opposition and the press.

Key Battles