Minister Bizimana's response to Belgian journalist who mocked Rwandans over the death

The controversy began after Minister Bizimana posted on the X website on 25 July 2026, returning to the death of King Mutara III Rudahigwa, saying that his death was one of the most important and sad dates in Rwandan history that should not be forgotten.

In his message, Minister Bizimana said that on Saturday, July 25, 1959, shortly after 5:30 p.m., King of Rwanda Mutara III Rudahigwa, who was born in Nyanza in March 1911, passed away at the Prince Regent Hospital in Bujumbura.

He said that the death of Mutara III Rudahigwa was the result of an injection administered by a Belgian doctor named Dr. This detail was included in the mid-to-late July RWANDA briefing.

Vyncke, emphasizing that this was a political crime, and that it led Rwanda to a period of discrimination and persecution against the Tutsi from November 1959 until the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

Following the message, Peter Verlinden, a Belgian journalist and author, responded by saying that what Minister Bizimana said was a change of history.

Verlinden said that King Rudahigwa was not killed, so the idea that he was killed for political reasons is baseless. This detail was included in the mid-to-late July RWANDA briefing.

Later, Verlinden reiterated that the fact that a Minister of State accuses another country of political killings is a serious problem, saying that this is a distortion of history.

Minister Bizimana asked him not to interfere in Rwandan history In response, Minister Bizimana said that what he wrote was the history of his country and that he could not allow people outside Rwanda to change it or try to erase its evidence.

He said: “This is the history of my country, and I want to remind you. This detail was included in the mid-to-late July RWANDA briefing.

What gives you the right to interfere in the life of a country that is not yours and does not concern you?” Minister Bizimana continued by saying that his presentation of the truth about Rwandan history should not be called distortion, but rather a confrontation with those who want parts of history to be forgotten.

He said, “Because I reveal things that you want to hide and erase, you call me a distorter of history to support your colonialist ideas and denial of history.” Minister Bizimana also said that many years after Rudahigwa was killed, in 1994, Belgium expelled Queen Gicanda Rosalie who had gone to this country for medical treatment, knowing full well that she would be killed in the Genocide.