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Quick facts for kids Sylvie Kinigi
Kinigi in 1993

President of Burundi
Acting
In office 27 October 1993 – 5 February 1994
Preceded by	François Ngeze (acting)
Succeeded by	Cyprien Ntaryamira
Prime Minister of Burundi
In office 10 July 1993 – 5 February 1994
President	Melchior Ndadaye
Preceded by	Adrien Sibomana
Succeeded by	Anatole Kanyenkiko

Personal details
Born	Sylvie Ntigashira (1953-11-24) 24 November 1953 (age 71) Mugoyi, Bujumbura Rural Province, Burundi
Political party	Union pour le Progrès national
Alma mater	University of Burundi

Sylvie Kinigi (born 24 November 1953) is a politician and economist from Burundi. She made history as the second woman in Africa to serve as a president.

Sylvie Kinigi was the Prime Minister of Burundi from July 1993 to February 1994. She also served as the acting president of Burundi from November 1993 to February 1994.

Born into a Tutsi family, she studied banking at the University of Burundi. She also earned another diploma in banking from Paris, France. Sylvie Kinigi was involved in politics with the Union pour le Progrès national (UPRONA) party. She was also active in a women's group called Union des Femmes Burundaises. In this role, she worked to help women by suggesting new laws and government actions.

In 1990, Kinigi started working at the Bank of the Republic of Burundi. She led the department that focused on research and statistics. The next year, she was put in charge of Burundi's plan to improve its economy.

In 1993, Burundi held free elections. The Front for Democracy in Burundi (FRODEBU) party won. The new president, Melchior Ndadaye, chose Kinigi to be the prime minister. She wanted to help Burundi's economy grow. However, she believed that this could only happen if the tensions between the Tutsi and Hutu ethnic groups were reduced. So, she made ethnic peace her main goal.

On 21 October 1993, President Ndadaye and other officials were sadly killed by soldiers during a difficult time in the country. This left Sylvie Kinigi as the highest-ranking official still alive. She became the acting head of state for Burundi. She worked from the French embassy with other surviving ministers. Even though her government found it hard to stop the violence that followed, she played a very important part. She helped find a way for a new president, Cyprien Ntaryamira, to be elected. She stepped down when he took office in 1994. After that, she worked at the Banque Commerciale du Burundi and held several international jobs before returning to Burundi in 2008. She now works as an independent economic consultant.

Early Life and Education
Career
See also

Early Life and Education

Sylvie Ntigashira was born on 24 November 1953. This was in Mugoyi, a place that is now part of Bujumbura Rural Province in Burundi. She is from the Tutsi ethnic group. Her father was a merchant, and her mother took care of their home and farmed.

Sylvie was the third of six children. She was able to go to school while her older sister helped their mother at home. Nuns taught her in primary and secondary school. She then went to the University of Burundi. In 1979, she graduated with a degree in banking and credit. In 1990, she earned another advanced diploma from a banking training center in Paris, France.

In 1973, Sylvie Ntigashira married Firmin Kinigi, a teacher from Burundi. He was from the Hutu ethnic group. They had four or five children together. Her husband supported her desire to continue her education and career. The family hired help to take care of their home and children. Sadly, her husband passed away in the early 1990s.

Career

Early Political Work

Burundi became an independent country from Belgium in July 1962. After independence, the Tutsi ethnic group, which was a minority, gained political power. This happened at the expense of the Hutu majority. Sylvie Kinigi believed that democracy was introduced too quickly in Burundi. This led to people organizing themselves based on their ethnic groups, which made tensions worse. For about 30 years, Burundi's government was controlled by Tutsi military officers.

Sylvie Kinigi was closely connected to the Union pour le Progrès national (UPRONA) party. At that time, UPRONA was the only legal political party in Burundi. She was also an active member of the Union des Femmes Burundaises. This was a group for women within UPRONA. By 1987, she was part of its main committee. In this role, she worked to change laws and push for government actions that would help women.

In 1990, Kinigi was hired by the Bank of the Republic of Burundi. She led the department that focused on research and statistics. She also taught classes at the University of Burundi. In 1991, she left that job. President Pierre Buyoya appointed her as a special advisor in the Prime Minister's Office. Her job was to help carry out Burundi's plan to improve its economy. In this role, she talked with important international groups like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. President Buyoya was impressed with her work. He then appointed her as the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Economic Planning.

Prime Minister of Burundi

In the summer of 1993, Burundi began a new democratic period. The country held free elections. The Front for Democracy in Burundi (FRODEBU) party, which was UPRONA's rival, won these elections. The new president of Burundi was Melchior Ndadaye. He was the leader of FRODEBU and the first Hutu person to become head of state. President Ndadaye offered Sylvie Kinigi the job of Prime Minister of Burundi. She would take over from Adrien Sibomana.

Kinigi thought about the offer for some time. She decided to accept it because she felt she was just as capable as the army officers who had ruled the country before. She also knew President Ndadaye personally. They had studied together in Paris. She also knew Léonard Nyangoma and Cyprien Ntaryamira, two FRODEBU politicians whom Ndadaye wanted in his new government. When she was chosen, Kinigi said it was "a good surprise for Burundian women primarily, but for African women too."

Some people in FRODEBU were upset that Kinigi was chosen. They saw it as President Ndadaye betraying their party. Some UPRONA members were also unhappy. They felt that Ndadaye had chosen her just because she was a Tutsi woman and not because of her skills. The new government ended up having two-thirds Hutu members and one-third Tutsi members. Kinigi was one of only two women ministers. The government officially started on 10 July.

As Prime Minister, Kinigi wanted to help the economy grow. But she believed this could only happen if the tensions between ethnic groups were reduced. So, she announced that bringing ethnic groups together would be her top goal. In mid-October, she sent her ministers across the country to encourage peace and understanding. She traveled to the northeast to speak out against the violence that had happened during previous elections.

Prime Minister Kinigi greeting President Melchior Ndadaye at Bujumbura airport in 1993

On 21 October, President Ndadaye and several other officials were sadly killed by Tutsi soldiers during a difficult event. A civilian figure, François Ngeze, was presented by the military as the new head of state. Kinigi's bodyguards stayed loyal to her during this time. She and other senior government figures found safety in the French embassy. She was the highest-ranking civilian official who survived the event. From the embassy, she continued to give directions on government policy. Former presidents Buyoya and Jean Baptiste Bagaza supported her government. The attempt to take over the government failed because of widespread violence and strong disapproval from other countries. On 7 November, she left the embassy and returned to her home with French military protection.

Because President Ndadaye and others in line to become president had died, Sylvie Kinigi became the acting head of state for Burundi. Even after the takeover failed, some Tutsi extremists continued to use violence. This made it hard for Kinigi's government to lead the country.

Kinigi's government, which had 15 of the original 22 ministers, helped calm the situation in Bujumbura, the capital city. However, it could not stop the widespread violence between ethnic groups across the country after the difficult event. Thousands of people died during this time. Some radical Tutsi members of UPRONA were unhappy with her actions. On 15 November, she wrote a letter to the leader of the Organisation of African Unity. She asked for military help to bring order back to the country. However, the army and opposition politicians said this was like asking for Burundi to be "recolonized." In December, her government set up a group to investigate human rights problems that happened after the event. But this group never started its work because of objections from the opposition in parliament.

Sylvie Kinigi felt the heavy responsibility of leading the country during this difficult time. She worked to help choose a new president. On 9 January 1994, under her guidance, the National Assembly changed a part of the Burundian constitution. This change allowed the National Assembly to elect the next president of Burundi. Four days later, the National Assembly elected Ntaryamira to be president. He won with 78 votes to one.

Ntaryamira was supposed to become president on 22 January. But the opposition in parliament, led by UPRONA, went to the Constitutional Court to stop it. They argued that the constitution could not be changed during a national crisis. FRODEBU members of parliament said the change was needed to fill the empty position. They argued that holding a national election would have been impossible. The Constitutional Court sided with the opposition. The Hutu judges then resigned. On 29 January, Kinigi's government issued a rule dismissing the Tutsi judges. This led to several days of violence in Bujumbura.

With help from a United Nations representative, Kinigi worked out a deal with the opposition. Ntaryamira would become president with a new UPRONA prime minister. Also, the Constitutional Court would be put back in place. Ntaryamira was sworn in as president on 5 February. Kinigi resigned as prime minister when he took office. On 7 February, Ntaryamira appointed Anatole Kanyenkiko to replace her.

Sylvie Kinigi was the second woman to serve as president of an African country. The first was Carmen Pereira of Guinea-Bissau, who also held the office temporarily. People had very different opinions about her time in government. Many of her Tutsi peers saw her as not effective. However, she kept a lot of respect among FRODEBU members. In 1999, Kinigi reflected on her time in government. She said it made people realize "that a woman can do even more than a man can do, with a soul of a mother and strong will, at the highest level of politics."

Later Work

After leaving the government, Kinigi took on a leadership role at the Banque Commerciale du Burundi. She then held several international positions. These included jobs at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). She represented UNDP in countries like Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, and Senegal. She also worked as a political advisor and program coordinator for the UN Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region in Nairobi.

She returned to Burundi in 2008 and became an independent economic consultant. In this role, she spoke out for women's right to inherit land and property. She also supported the use of democracy. In 2016, the Carter Center chose Kinigi to lead its international team observing the general elections in Zambia that year.