[1][2] He was chosen by the military Committee of Public Salvation, a group of army officers that staged the 1993 Burundian coup d'état attempt overthrew the democratically elected government of president Melchior Ndadaye (who was killed during the coup attempt).
Ngeze, one of the few prominent Hutu members of UPRONA (Union for National Progress) at the time, was interior minister in the government of Pierre Buyoya, who was defeated by Ndadaye in elections held on 1 June 1993.
By his own account government administrator Basile Gateretse—a friend of his father—released him from prison and hid him in his home for two weeks with his cousin, Cyprien Ntaryamira.
He earned a university degree in pedagogy and became a teacher at Saint Léon Minor Seminary of Kabgayi.
[3] On 4 April 1992 he was sworn-in with a new national cabinet as Minister of Interior, becoming the first Hutu to hold the post since two decades prior.