Jean-Damascène Bizimana was on August 31 appointed minister of the newly formed Ministry of National Unity and Civic Engagement.

Created in July, the Ministry will, among others, focus on national unity, historical memory and citizenship education, a move lauded by leaders of faith-based organisations in the country.

Until his appointment, the former academic and senator, served as the Executive Secretary of the National Commission for the Fight against Genocide (CNLG), an agency established in 2007 to prevent and fight against Genocide, its ideology and overcoming its consequences.

Bizimana, a father of four, served as CNLG’s Executive Secretary since March 2015.

Up to that time, the 58-year old served in the Senate – the Upper House of the Parliament of Rwanda – where he was President of the Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Security Committee, from October 2010 to March 2015.

Bizimana told The New Times that he is an ardent soccer fan. His first love, he said, is Olympique de Marseille, also known as OM or simply Marseille, a French professional men's football club based in Marseille. His second team is Spanish giants, Real Madrid. But he also follows the English Premier League because he is a fan of Manchester United Football Club. In the top flight of Italian football, or Serie A, Bizimana likes AC Milan.

He does not play soccer though. But he often keeps fit by walking.

Bizimana loves Rwandan music too. Like most people in his generation, he enjoys listening to productions by the old Rwandan bands including Impala, Nyampinga, Umubano Inono Stars, Les Fellows and others. He also loves some of the music produced by the young generation of Rwandan artists but he particularly likes Rwandan oldies, which he believes are rich with meaning and are inspirational – such as songs by Cyprien Rugamba, one of Rwanda’s most eulogised legends, who was the leader of ‘Amasimbi n’Amakombe’.

Bizimana also loves liberation war songs and all compositions by famous musicians like Cecile Kayirebwa, Intore Masamba, and others.

Born in 1963 in Cyanika sector, in Nyamagabe District, Bizimana holds a PhD in Law, with a specialisation in international law, from the University of Toulouse in France which he obtained in February 2004. His master’s degree in law was obtained from Montpellier I University in France. He also holds a Bachelor’s degree in philosophy and human sciences obtained in 1991.

From 2004 to 2006, he taught international law at the then National University of Rwanda and at Kigali Independent University (ULK).

Between 2006 and 2009, he served as a member of the Rwandan National Commission which examined the role of the French government in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Among others, Bizimana was vice president of the National Commission that probed the downing of former President Juvenal Habyarimana’s plane in April 1994.

Thereafter, from 2009 to 2010, he worked as a private expert and international consultant. He is an expert t in transitional justice, human rights and international justice.

Bizimana is an academic researcher who has published many articles on national, regional and international geopolitics, history and consequences of the 1994 genocide, as well as genocide ideology and denial.

He has published three books in French and Kinyarwanda: Inzira ya Jenoside yakorewe Abatutsi (2014); La contribution du Tribunal pénal International à l'évolution de la justice pénal Internationale (2004); and L'Eglise et le génocide au Rwanda (2001).