Testimony of Mr Julien Nyssens Region Administrator in Rwanda

At the origins

Rwanda is a country which exists since 1091. It is at this date that King Gihanga becomes the first sovereign of the country, and since, his descendants reign over Rwanda. The pre-colonial Rwandan population was structured into about twenty clans made up of breeders, the Tutsi; farmers, the majority Hutus; and craftsmen, the Twa. The Twa come from the Pygmy populations who originally inhabited Rwanda. The clan was the identity reference for each Rwandan. Each clan had a chief named Mwami from a patriarchal lineage. One of the clans, ruled by a Tutsi lineage, dominated the region and his mwami was considered the king of Rwanda. The populations spoke the same language, Kinyarwanda, shared the same religion, could sometimes marry each other and could pass from one caste to another by favour of the mwami comparable to ennobling. This so-called feudal system was based on the possession of herds or land. This structure was embodied by a cattle chief, a land chief, and a military chief.

German and Belgian colonial period

Towards the end of the 19th century, the mwami of the dominant clan was Kigeli IV, who died in 1895. In 1885, the Berlin Conference attributed Rwanda to the German Empire. The first Europeans to enter Rwanda, in 1892 and 1894, were Oscar Baumann and Gustav Adolf von Götzen.

The colonial administration relied on the Tutsi, to the detriment of the Mwami of the Hutu clans.
The history taught during the Belgian tutelage describes the majority Hutus as farmers of Bantu origin, while the Tutsi are a pastoral people arrived in the region in the fifteenth century from the Ethiopian highlands, of Nilo-Hamitic DNA. The Twa are said to be descendants of the Pygmies, the first inhabitants of the region. It was through a system of indirect administration that respected the clan authorities and relied on them to manage the country that Belgium exercised its tutelage over Ruanda. She established her own organization which the peasants will call double colonization. Because the clan structure was superimposed by the colonial Services (Territory, Health, Education, Agriculture, TP, etc.).

The clan authorities, mainly Tutsis, exercised their action via a monarchical structure (Mwami, chiefs, s / chiefs, and courts) and a feudal social fabric whose supporting feature is the historic contract (the ubuhake) which binds the lord (shebuja) to his vassal (umugaragu). Under this agreement, the beneficiary of the loan, which consists of one or more cows, is obliged vis-à-vis the donor to provide retribution in service and/or in kind. However, the democratization recommended by the UN required in 1945 the buyback of these benefits. These peaceful relations are loosened by the growing awareness by the “little people” of the social inequalities of which they are the object.

By a 1952 decree, the Trusteeship took the first step towards democratization by imposing elections by indirect suffrage of men. These took place in 1953 and in 1956.

In 1957 the Mwami and his Council demanded more power for autonomy. That same year, the Hutu movement published “the Manifesto of the Hutus” which evokes the racial problem in Ruanda in which the Hutus (82%) are dominated by the Tutsis (15%).

The creation of political parties was authorized on June 15, 1959. UNAR and RADER, Tutsi parties demand independence. APROSOMA and PARMEHUTU, Hutu parties, are more moderate: the latter’s leader begged the Belgian Government (letter of October 14, 1959) not to withdraw its guardianship until the small people were “emancipated”. Several factors will speed things up:

Several factors will speed things up:

– the Mwami’s death on July 25, 1959, heightened tensions

– the peasants (Hutus) demanded land from Tutsi breeders who monopolize the pastures

– a wind of independence was blowing across borders

– the Kinyamateka newspaper of the Catholic Church which animated and trained the people echoed it

In November 1959 a severe revolt of peasants broke out, the jacquerie, which caused looting and attacks. It’s almost a civil war. More than 2,000 people are being sued in court. Many Tutsis are fleeing to Uganda. Petitions are addressed to the United Nations.

In April 1960, the Parmehutu appointed new deputy heads.

In June 1960, there were municipal elections by direct universal suffrage of men.

This latter led to the constitution of a Provisional Council and Government.

October 18, 1960, is the investiture of the mayors to replace the deputy heads.

At the end of 1960, it was a regime of autonomy. Rwandan assistants are appointed alongside the Territorial Administrators.

Legislative elections are announced for January 1961, but following the opposition of the UN, the Parmehutu party gathers its elected representatives and proclaims the Republic and the end of the Monarchy without the knowledge of the Trusteeship. It was “the coup d’etat de Gitarama” on January 28, 1961.

Final stage: on September 25, 1961, legislative elections by universal suffrage of men and women and a referendum on the Monarchy and the person of the Mwami, took place calmly under the supervision of the UN: 35 seats out of 44 were allocated to Parmehutu and 7 at Unar. An autonomous Assembly and Government lead to independence on July 1, 1962.

In forty years of tutelage, Rwanda has gone from a peaceful but frozen feudal kingdom to a agitated parliamentary republic in a complete and violent but democratic social reversal. It created his own National Guard and beat his own currency. Despite galloping demography, it has created an extensive road network, renovated housing, hospitals and secondary and technical schools, improved agricultural yields, equipment and development organizations. Its mineral resources are poor. Its budget is in deficit. Its efforts to reconcile its inhabitants are unfinished. The opposition has taken refuge outside the country and will return after 30 years.

The claim of independence of the Tutsi encouraged the Belgians to overthrow their alliance in favour of the Hutu. In November 1959, a civil war broke out which led to the exile of 300,000 Tutsi. The Hutu majority takes power, with the support of the colonial authorities and the Catholic Church.