Michel Micombero

Biography:

Michel Micombero was the first President of Burundi from November 28 1966 to November 1 1976. He was born in Rutovu Bururi Province as a member of the Tutsi ethnicity. In the years after independence Burundi had seen a rapid descent into anarchy. The king Mwambutsa IV rapidly changed the Prime Minister as anti-Tutsi forces threatened to unleash the same violence as had hit Rwanda. On October 18 1965 Hutu leader Gervais Nyangoma launched a coup ousting the king.