André Muhirwa (1920–2003) was a Burundian politician who served as prime minister of Burundi from 1961 to 1963. He became prime minister following the assassination of his predecessor, Louis Rwagasore. A member of the Union for National Progress (UPRONA), he previously served as Minister of the Interior from September to October 1961.
Early life
André Muhirwa was born in 1920 in Murete, Ruanda-Urundi. He was the son of Mbanzabugabo, a prominent chief. He belonged to the Batare lineage of the Ganwa ethnicity. Following the death of his father in 1930 and his protests over the former's appointed successor, the Belgian Residency forced him into exile with his brothers in Tanganyika. Muhirwa and his brothers returned to Burundi in late 1931. With the assistance of a Catholic priest, he studied at the Groupe Scolaire de Astrida, graduating in 1942. From then until 1944 he served as a clerk in the Bururi District Office.
Political career
In 1944 Muhirwa was granted the small chiefdom of Buhumuza in the Ruyigi territory. The chiefdom was distant from his place of origin, and he later recounted in an interview that while presiding over it he felt as if he were still in exile. In 1952 he married Rosa Paula Iribagiza, the daughter of the Mwami (king) of Burundi, Mwambutsa IV of Burundi. The marriage was part of a deal struck by Muhirwa with the monarchy to assume his father's chiefdom, with the assistance of Chiefs Ntitendereza and Barusasiyeko. He was granted the chiefdom the following year. Afterwards he became a staunch supporter of Bezi lineage Ganwa and grew close to the monarchy. He retained good relations with the Mwami even after he separated from Iribagiza.
In 1958 Muhirwa became a supporter of Crown Prince Louis Rwagasore and later joined the Union for National Progress (Union pour le Progrès national, UPRONA)—Rwagosore's political party—becoming one of its vice-presidents by April 1960. In October 1960 he fled Urundi and went to Tanganyika, but returned in August 1961 to help Rwagosore prepare UPRONA for the 1961 elections. Following UPRONA's victory in September, Rwagosore appointed Muhirwa as Minister of the Interior in his government. On 13 October Rwagosore was assassinated, and Muhirwa was appointed Prime Minister of Burundi to replace him on 19 October. The Legislative Assembly gave him its confidence in a vote, 50 to two. Jean Ntiruhama replaced him as Minister of Interior. At the Legislative Assembly's session on 22 October Muhirwa, citing the distraction of "recent events", declined to offer a government program and the body sat aimlessly for the next few months. He accused the Belgian administration, namely Governor-General Jean-Paul Harroy, of being complicit in Rwagasore's murder, though he vacillated on this position, at points expressing concern over the future of Belgian-Burundian relations but also facing pressure from his government and the public to condemn the Belgians. He attended the public execution of Rwagasore's killers in January 1963.
The death of Rwagosore stoked divisions in UPRONA, and fueled a rivalry between Muhirwa and a Hutu politician, Paul Mirerekano. Both claimed to be the heirs to the late prime minister's legacy and both sought to become president of UPRONA in his wake. Muhirwa initially claimed the presidency, arguing that since he had taken over Rwagasore's place in government he was entitled to lead the party. Mirerekano contested this on the grounds that Rwagasore had made him interim party president in mid-1961. A caucus of several UPRONA leaders met on 4 July 1962 to settle the dispute and confirmed Muhirwa's ascension to the party presidency. Mirerekano refused to concede, and at the Mwami's intervention, an UPRONA mass congress was held in September, which led to both men being assigned vice presidencies in the party. The leadership dispute led to the coalescing of two factions in the party, with Muhirwa leading the "Casablanca group" and Mirekano leading the "Monrovia group". The former was generally anti-West in its political orientation, while the latter took a more moderate stance on the West.
Muhirwa led a delegation to the United Nations headquarters in February 1962 to discuss the terms of Burundi's impending independence. He opposed the retention of Belgian troops in Urundi. He attended ceremonies to mark the independence of the Kingdom of Burundi on 1 July 1962, and subsequently submitted Burundi's request for membership to the United Nations. He also signed the promulgation order for the new Constitution of the Kingdom of Burundi alongside Mwambutsa and Minister of Justice Claver Nuwinkware.