At the time of his death he was secretary general of the Social Democratic Party[1] and served as Minister of Public Works and Energy.
[2] Gatabazi had served in the government of President Juvénal Habyarimana in the 1970s and he was dismissed in a cabinet reshuffle on 8 January 1984.
In 1992, Gatabazi's Social Democratic Party entered government and Gatabazi became minister in the cabinet of Dismas Nsengiyaremye.
[4] After returning home from a political meeting Gatabazi was shot and killed in Kigali.
[5] Shortly after Gatabazi's death an angry crowd killed Martin Bucyana, president of the Coalition for the Defence of the Republic, in Butare, hometown of Gatabazi.