Last Kings of Rwanda and the Genocide

King of Rwanda, Yuhi V Musinga, under Belgian Colonial Supervision

The Last Kings of Rwanda and the Genocide

King Yuhi V Musinga’s reign from 1896 to 1931 overlapped with the beginning of Belgian rule. During WWI, Musinga refused to be baptized as Roman Catholic and was deposed in favor of his son. This photo reflects the racialized elevation of Tutsi over Hutu at the hands of Belgium colonizers, and the constraints on the power of the Rwanda’s Tutsi monarchs under the conditions of European control. The last four Kings of Rwanda—Kigeli V Ndahindurwa (r. 1959-1962), Mutara III Rudahigwa (r. 1931-1959), Yuhi V Musinga (r. 1896-1931), and Kigeli IV Rwabugiri (r. 1840-1895)—are those under whose reign this system was implemented and were mostly puppets of colonial powers. Rwabugiri, the last king who, for most of his reign, had complete control of Rwanda, implemented an occupation-based system where Tutsi were nobles and cattle herders, and everyone else was considered non-Tutsi. After Ndahindurwa, Europeans were firmly entrenched within Rwanda, and the Kings of Rwanda had little choice in decision-making. Rudahigwa implemented reforms to make Hutus more equal, but that was only because the Belgians were pressured by the UN to do so. After him, Ndahindurwa reigned after only two years and had little influence over Rwanda during and after his reign. The blame for the racialized and oppressive system that led to the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi should be placed on the Belgians and Germans, who held ultimate power in Rwanda once they arrived.

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The Last King of Rwanda –  Kigeli V

The Kings of Rwanda

Bibliography

Baragwyza, Jean-Bosco. “RTLM 101.” Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines. Genocide Archive Rwanda. Published December 12, 1993. Transcribed May 9, 2000.

Des Forges, Alison Liebhafsky. Defeat Is the Only Bad News: Rwanda under Musinga, 1896-1931. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 2011.

George. “RTLM 188.” Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines. Genocide Archive Rwanda. Transcribed August 16, 1995.

Jefremovas, Villia. “Contested Identities: Power and the Fictions of Ethnicity, Ethnography and History in Rwanda.” Anthropologica 39, no. 1/2 (1997): 91–104.

Jessee, Erin, and Sarah E. Watkins. “Good Kings, Bloody Tyrants, and Everything In Between: Representations of the Monarchy in Post-Genocide Rwanda.” History in Africa 41 (2014): 35–62.

Saint-David, Addington Stewart. Umwami King Kigeli V and the Shattered Kingdom of Rwanda. Editions Elgiad, 2019. 116-131.

Samusabi, Felicien. “RTLM 102.” Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines. Genocide Archive. Rwanda. Published April 16, 1994. Transcribed December 21, 1999.

Valerie. “RTLM 0024.” Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines. Genocide Archive Rwanda. Published May 6, 1994. Transcribed February 2, 2000.

Photo Source

E. Gourdinne, MRAC Tervuren EP.0.0.6127, 1918