Former senator Jose Kagabo, who passed on at the weekend, will be buried on Thursday in France.

The former representative of Southern Province in the first Senate died on Saturday at the age of 66.

"His family has informed us that he will be buried on Thursday in France so our embassy in Paris will represent the nation,” Senate President Bernard Makuza told The New Times yesterday.

 Makuza said Kagabo was a very active cadre of the ruling RPF-Inkotanyi and played a big role during the 1990-94 liberation struggle while in France.

"Even after the liberation war, he visited our embassy in Germany where I worked as an ambassador between 1996 and 2000. He was so much involved in informing Rwandans about the good intentions of Kigali government while counteracting negative forces at the time. His life leaves us a lot to learn from; we should all be able to serve our purpose and be as patriotic as possible to leave a good legacy,” Makuza added.

Dr Vincent Biruta, the minister for natural resources, who is also a former Senate president, said Kagabo was a very patriotic and intelligent man.

"He went beyond senatorial and national territories to speak about the good in the country. We will remember his selfless commitment to Rwanda,” Biruta said.

Kagabo was a renowned politician and a prominent academic who held a PhD in Sociology. He was an Associate Professor of History and Anthropology and was once a senior researcher at African Studies Centre from 1987 and 1990.

Makuza and Sen. Emmanuel Bajyana said Kagabo succumbed to lung cancer in a Paris hospital.

During his time in Senate, the late Kagabo was a member of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Security.

He also served as head of International Programme Exchanges and Relationships for France-based organisation, EHESS, in early 2000s.

Rwanda’s Ambassador to France Jacques Kabale said the family chose to bury the deceased in France since he was also a French citizen.

"The late Kagabo has been a social man here in France, and he kept close ties with the Rwandan community in the Diaspora, specially France and Belgium,” Amb. Kabale said.

The late Kagabo will be laid to rest on Thursday at 1.30pm in Paris after a requiem mass where his family, relatives, friends and Rwandan community in France will bid him farewell. 

Kagabo was born in Huye to Amani Ntirushwamaboko and Mariam Mukamudodo. He attended Huye Primary School, GS Officiel de Butare for O-Level before completing A-Level at ETO Kicukiro.

He joined the former National University of Rwanda before he fled the country in 1973 to DR Congo and later settled in France in 1974, according to his close friend Gasana Ndoba.

He has been lecturer of Law in France.

The late Kagabo is survived by wife Laurence and daughter Larissa Umuhoza Kagabo, 25, who is a medical doctor in France.