Kinigi, Sylvie

▪ prime minister of Burundi

born c. 1952, Burundi

      economist and politician who served as prime minister of Burundi from July 1993 to February 1994.

      Kinigi studied economics at the University of Burundi and held civil service jobs before becoming an adviser to the prime minister in 1991. After Melchior Ndadaye, a member of the Hutu ethnic majority, was elected president in June 1993, he appointed Kinigi, a member of the Tutsi minority, as prime minister. She was the first woman to hold the position. The president was killed in a coup in October 1993, and Kinigi was asked to form a caretaker government. In January 1994, however, the National Assembly elected a new president, Cyprien Ntaryamira, who appointed a new prime minister, Anatole Kanyenkiko, the following month. Kinigi then left government service.

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