Azarias Ruberwa

Azarias Ruberwa Manywa (born August 20, 1964) was one of four vice-presidents in the transitional government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 2003-2006. He has been president of the Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie since 2003. He was an unsuccessful candidate for president in 2006. He is a member of the Banyamulenge community of South Kivu who belong to the tutsi tribe.

Ruberwa trained as a lawyer at the University of Lubumbashi. He also practiced law in Lubumbashi before the AFDL war in 1996. After losing the presidential election in 2006, he became a member of the bar in Kinshasa and re-opened his law practice.

A devoted Christian, Ruberwa is currently on the board of Mercy Ships, a non-profit organization that serves third-world countries and provides them with necessary medication. He has three children with his wife, Chantal, who is president of Congo Family Restoration, also another non-profit organization founded by the Ruberwa family that helps orphaned children in the Congo. The couple currently supports more than 50 kids and plan to expand the number in the near future.

Ruberwa has also recently been an honorary guest speaker at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, Liberty University and University of St. Thomas (Minnesota).

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