User:TRCRF22/sandbox/Aloys Simba

Aloys Simba (February 28, 1938 – July 4, 2023) was a Rwandan politician and former soldier who briefly served as Minister of Information under Juvénal Habyarimana. In 2005 he was convicted of taking part in the Rwandan genocide and was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment.

Military and political career
Aloys Simba joined the Rwandan Armed Forces in 1961 and finished his training two years later with the rank of second lieutenant. Throughout the 1960s he took part in fighting against the inyenzi, Tutsi exiles who sought to overthrow the new Hutu government. He also saw combat during the 1964 Simba rebellion alongside future president of Zaire Mobutu Sese Seko.

Simba was one of ten soldiers to participate in the 1973 Rwandan coup d'état which brought Juvénal Habyarimana, of whom he was a close associate, to power. Following the coup Simba was appointed Minister of Information due to his personal ties with Habyarimana, but was stripped of his position after about six months, which he attributed to "professional and personal difficulties". Simba was also a member of the elite circle of Hutu extremists known as the Akazu. He was married with eight children.

Following his retirement from the military as a lieutenant colonel, Simba was elected to the Rwandan parliament in 1989 as a member of the MRND party. He was also regional leader of the MRND in Gikongoro Province from July 1991 until 1993. Simba resigned from both positions in September 1993, claiming that the party had mistreated him and his family. Despite this he remained in favor with the government, and was appointed Civil Defence Advisor for Gikongoro and Butare provinces in 1994.

Rwandan genocide
In early April 1994, Simba