John V Karuranga Problems of Rwanda https://facebook/groups/abanyamakuru/permalink/550993951642602/ Prior to the 10th century Rwanda was politically run by various chieftains based on clan lineages, such as Abanyiginya, Abega, Abasinga, Abagesera, Abacyaba and Abazigaba to mention a few. Within each clan, people were categorised into three socio-economic classes, which changed in relation to changes in their socio-economic status. Clan lineages still exist today in Rwanda, but nothing has ever been mentioned by international commentators about their roles within the ongoing Rwandan conflict. Equally there has been no mention or explanation of the role of the Hutus (Gahutu the so-called traditional enemy of Gatutsi) in providing security for the monarchy. Furthermore, contrary to colonial beliefs, Hutu, Tutsi or Twa neither are not different tribes nor are they distinct ethnic groups as frequently claimed in western propaganda. In Africa, native languages delineate a tribe’s culture, socio-economic structure and historical origin. In Uganda, for example, Luganda makes the Baganda a tribe that is different from the Banyankore, who speak Runyankore or Batoro whose native language is Rutoro. In Europe, the Belgian Flanders from the north who speak Flemish are an ethnic group different from the Wallonia from the south who speak Walloon, while in the UK, the Scottish whose native language is Gaelic is also a different tribe from the Welsh who speak Welsh. Surprisingly, even though the above-mentioned tribes have different cultures, socio-economic structures and historical origins, they have been living together in harmony for many years. Rwanda is a nation with one tribe, one language and one culture. There is no trace in the history of Rwanda of any place settled first by Hutu or Tutsi or any single area populated by Hutu or Tutsi in Rwanda. Indeed, the names such as Gahutu, Gatutsi and Gatwa, represent Rwandan traditional names (an example, King Yuhi V Musinga’s nephew, the son of Cyitatire was called Semutwa), whereas the words Tutsi and Hutu represent the classification of standards of living (socio-economic classes). Therefore, the misinterpretation of the true meaning and understanding of Tutsi and Hutu was intentionally created and imposed by colonial powers as part of a policy of “divide-and-conquer”. The aim was to create artificial ethnic groups designed to divide a unified community. This in turn laid the ground for subsequent killings and the 1994 genocide. The problem of Rwanda started with unfair re-demarcations of Rwanda’s borders from 1910 to 1912. Large parts of Rwanda’s territory were annexed to the neighbouring British and Belgian colonies. Prior to the 1884 – 1885 Berlin Conference on the division of Africa among European nations Rwanda was over ten times larger than it exists today. Indeed some regions of DR Congo, Southern Uganda, Western Tanzania and Northern Burundi were Rwandan territories until the colonialists redrew the map following colonial occupation by Germany (1896 –1916) and Belgium (1916-1961). In brief, the people of Rwanda never benefited from the so-called Hutu revolutions. As examples, under the late Kayibanda’s regime, thousands of Rwandans were forced to leave their country. The southerners suppressed the northerners. When the late Habyarimana took power, hundreds of thousands of Rwandans from the south were killed. They were subjected to horrendous atrocities and tortures, including the use of electric shocks and insertion of heated bars into both men’s and women’s genitalia. Others were forced to flee their country in hundreds of thousands. Families were torn apart and graded in into artificial ethnic groups based on wealth and physical appearance. The various regimes introduced ethnic identity cards (Indangamuntu) similar to the ones issued to black people during the apartheid regime. It was intended to consolidate the process of racial segregation. It also strengthened the systematic tactic of divide-and-rule and helped the regimes identify and punish with punitive actions those who were deemed not to be supporters. In Rwanda people killed (or are still killing) their fellow neighbours just for survival (hunger). It has nothing to do with ethnic conflict between the so-called Tutsi and Hutu. Instead the war that has been going on since our “flag independence” was for “Land Reform and Fair Re-distribution” of Rwanda’s wealth. The issue of ethnic conflict was planted as an excuse to protect external forces that aided (or are still aiding) some greedy Rwandan politicians to incite racial hatred on ethnic lines. This recently degenerated into genocide and crimes against humanity.
Posted on: Mon, 07 Oct 2013 17:25:31 +0000
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