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Rwanda`s last king, Kigeli V, dies at age 80
The last king of Rwanda, Kigeli V, died early Sunday, his official website said. He was 80.
District of Columbia: The last king of Rwanda, Kigeli V, died early Sunday, his official website said. He was 80.
Born Jean-Baptiste Ndahindurwa in Kamembe, the monarch went into exile in 1960 after clashing with the Belgian colonial power. In 1961, the monarchy was abolished.
Kigeli V lived in exile in several African countries before settling in the suburbs of Washington in 1992.
While in the United States, he led the King Kigeli V Foundation to aid Rwandan refugees.
Details of his death were not immediately known.
A 2013 profile of the ex-monarch in Washingtonian magazine, found him living in subsidized housing, on food stamps and donations, in Oakton, Virginia, happy to hand out chocolates to neighbors` children.
"They call me the King of Africa," Kigeli said of the neighbors, in that report. "Ah, it`s good."
For decades he spoke of returning to his east African homeland -- a tiny, landlocked country that ranks among the world`s poorest nations -- but as monarch.