Antoinette Batumubwira

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Antoinette Batumubwira (born May 23, 1956, in Ngozi, Burundi) is a Burundian politician. She was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Burundi from 2005 to 2009. She is divorced to former foreign minister Jean-Marie Ngendahayo. [1]

Contents

Life

Batumubwira was born on May 23, 1956, in Ngozi, which was then part of Ruanda-Urundi. [2] She was born into a prominent Tutsi family. [2] From 1979 to 1981 she completed her undergraduate studies, and afterwards worked as a journalist for the newspaper "La Voix de la Révolution du Burundi" while earning her master's degree in communications. [2]

After Pierre Buyoya's ascension to President of Burundi in 1996, she left the country to work as head of public relations for ICO Global Communications, describing Buyoya as an autocrat. [2] She returned back to Burundi briefly, but went to South Africa after the renewal of the Burundian Civil War in 2003. [2] For the next two years she lived in Helsinki in Finland as a political refugee, where she learned Finnish in Vantaa. [2] During her stay there, she was contacted by the FDD to join the new government as Minister of Foreign Affairs as they sought well-educated politically active people. [2] This was the first government after a civil war. [3]

In late 2007, Batumubwira was named as a candidate to succeed Alpha Oumar Konaré as Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union in the election for that post in early 2008. [4] The government tried to obtain the support of other African countries for her candidacy, and African Great Lakes nations pledged that they would support her; however, the government later withdrew her candidacy and backed Jean Ping of Gabon. [5]

See also

References

  1. "Antoinette Batumubwira (1956)". Biografias de Mulheres Africanas (in Brazilian Portuguese). 29 June 2020. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Batumubwira, Antoinette". Dictionary of African Biography. Oxford University Press. 1 January 2011. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195382075.001.0001/acref-9780195382075-e-0305 . Retrieved July 2, 2007.
  3. "Foreign Minister of Burundi wants everybody to participate in the politics". Finland abroad: Burundi. Retrieved April 12, 2025.
  4. Jean-Pierre Nkunzimana, "Burundi seeks to join Commonwealth" Archived November 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine , The New Vision, November 27, 2007.
  5. "Antoinette Batumubwira withdraws her candidacy for the presidency of the African Union", Burundi Réalités, February 1, 2008.