He was initially a subchief who presided over a jurisdiction near Cyangugu, but was dismissed by the Belgian colonial administration in 1944 after they ruled that he had falsified court register entries.
In 1947 the administration served him with a deportation order, and the following year appealed to the Visiting United Nations Mission, accusing the authorities of mistreating him.
[1] At the funeral of the late Mwami, Mutara III Rudahigwa, on 28 July 1959 Rukeba led the crowd in demanding the naming of a successor to the throne.
[4] In August he cofounded the Rwandese National Union (UNAR), a party which quickly became the political voice of Tutsi traditionalists,[1] and was made its president.
[6] The exiled Mwami, Kigeli V Ndahindurwa, remained nominal head of state of this government, though in time Rukeba lost contact with him.