Rwanda

How do I write about Rwanda? Sometimes these posts become emotionally exhausting. Which is not to say that Rwanda’s recent history is the most distressing I have written about—I don’t think of these posts on a spectrum of that kind at all—but that sometimes the onslaught of so much human suffering and cruelty is distressing. The writing I can do is cursory at best—and so it is impossible to do justice to the complexity of any nation or society. Some are relatively familiar to the reader, some are wholly unfamiliar. And some, like Rwanda, are familiar only as horror stories. 1 July is the mark of Rwanda’s 1962 independence from Belgium.

I suppose we all know by how that the makeup of Rwandan society consists of a majority of Hutus and a minority of Tutsi—this is the result of migrations that took place in the prehistoric period, though for a long time the Tutsi made up a ruling class, and the German colonisers had a tendency to romanticize the Tutsi. When Europeans arrived there was already a Kingdom of Rwanda in existence, with its own religion and creation myths.

With the nineteenth century carving up of Africa among European states, Rwanda’s fate was decided a little later than most others—the region was divided in 1890, and resulted in Rwanda and Burundi coming under the German Empire. The maps of the region weren’t very good, though, and Belgium retained a claim on the western half of the country—the borders weren’t finalised until 1900.

There was obviously some resistance to German control, though a sizable portion saw German rule as a better alternative than Belgian control. Unfortunately, when Germany lost World War I, it also lost control of Rwanda to Belgium, and Belgian rule was harsh (and determined to turn a profit from the region). Every peasant had to allocate a percentage of their fields to growing coffee and labour was enforced by the whip. I’m sorry, but isn’t this twentieth century slavery? Not surprisingly hundred of thousands of Rwandans migrated to Uganda, a British protectorate that didn’t exhibit the same cruelty.

Belgian rule also solidified the racial divide that became central to the 1994 genocide, and the Belgians decided that Tutsis were closer to Europeans and therefore superior. Citizens were given racial identification cards, and defined legally as wither Hutu or Tutsi, with Tutsis getting preferential treatment under Belgian rule. As reforms came in during the 1950s, encouraging the growth of democracy, the Tutsis resisted the changes, believing it threatened their power. At the same time, a movement for Hutu equality emerged.

Before independence arrived, there was a 1959 revolt that resulted in the killing of 20,000 to 100,000 Tutsis by the Hutus; furthermore, around 150,000 Tutsis were exiled to neighbouring countries. When independence arrived, the Hutus were firmly in control. The new government under Grégoire Kayibanda established quotas, allowing only 10 percent of positions in schools, universities and the civil service, and ethnic identity cards continued to be issued. In 1973, Juvénal Habyarimana overthrew Kayibanda and established military rule. When (one-party) elections were held, Hayyarimana was reelcted in 1978, 1983 and 1983. In 1990 he announced his intention to make Rwanda a multi-party state.

Then came 1994. An airplane carrying Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira (the president of Burundi) was shot down and both presidents were killed. Then militia groups began rounding up Tutsis and killing them—this spread from Kigali to all corners of Rwanda from April to July. More than 1,000,000 Tutsis—and moderate Hutus—died. When Tutsi rebels defeated the Hutu regime in July, two million Hutus became refugees, fleeing to Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda and what was then Zaire. Repatriation has followed, so that now less than 5 percent of those who left are thought to remain outside Rwanda. Reportedly there are many Hutus who remain in the forests of eastern Congo who have been misinformed that they will be killed if they return to their homeland.

Since the war and genocide ended, the government has been keen to develop the country—the coffee industry is now making some money, though it’s been hard for Rwanda to compete with bigger coffee-producing countries. Free and compulsory education has been established, water taps have been put in in remote areas, and there is very little corruption in the country. Discussion of different ethnic groups has been made illegal as the government seeks to promote cultural unity and reconciliation.

Today’s poem is, I believe, a fragment—it was written in 1981 by Cyprien Ragamba, and I found it online here.



Ntabwo nagiye kumashana
ahubwo natsimbuye ubujiji
karamu nyikanga urupapuro
-
I did not go into battle
But pushed ignorance aside
By letting my pen wander over paper

—Cyprien Ragamba