Mwambutsa IV

Who is Mwambutsa IV?

Mwambutsa IV Bangiricenge (6 May 1912 - 26 March 1977) was the penultimate king, or mwami, of Burundi, reigning from 1915 until 1966, a span that covered nearly the entire period of Belgian colonial rule and continued into independence. He ascended the throne at age three following the death of his father, Mutaga IV Mbikije, and governed under a regency council until assuming full royal powers in 1929. Belgium retained him as monarch under its policy of indirect rule, administering Burundi alongside the neighboring kingdom of Rwanda. When Burundi gained independence on 1 July 1962, Mwambutsa became head of state of the newly sovereign Kingdom of Burundi, attempting to manage rising Hutu-Tutsi political tension by alternating his choice of prime minister between the two communities. His son, Prince Louis Rwagasore, had led the country's independence movement and briefly served as prime minister before being assassinated in October 1961, a loss that deepened the political instability Mwambutsa had to navigate as king. After a failed October 1965 coup attempt by Hutu army officers, Mwambutsa fled into exile, eventually settling in Switzerland, and in 1966 he was formally deposed in favor of his son Charles Ndizeye, who briefly reigned as Ntare V before the monarchy itself was abolished later that year.

Sources: Mwambutsa IV of Burundi, Wikipedia · Academic Kids Encyclopedia, 'Mwambutsa IV Bangiriceng of Burundi' · The African History, 'King Mwambutsa IV of Burundi Kingdom, crowned at the age of 3 in 1915'