Barthélémy Bisengimana Rwema (born 12 May 1935)[1] was a Zairean official who served as head of the Bureau of the President under Mobutu Sese Seko from May 1969 to February 1977.
[2] Bisengimana was a member of the Tutsi ethnic group whose rise to prominence was largely the result of the complete dependence of the Banyarwanda[clarification needed] upon the central government for power, which made them reliable supporters.
[3] A native of Cyangugu Province[4] in Rwanda, in 1961 Bisengimana was the first graduate with a degree in electrical engineering from Lovanium University in Kinshasa.
[2] Bisengima's aided many Congolese Tutsis in North and South Kivu to acquire land and start lucrative businesses.
[6] When the law, which further allowed the new citizens to claim land rights, went into effect in 1973, a number of Tutsi refugees legally received plantations and ranches that had been previously owned by Belgian settlers.