Between Gorillas: My Mother, Her Dreams, and Me A Memoir

By Edwin Sabuhoro

About the Book
This book is about a life I have lived as a refugee—a painful yet joyful life.
It’s about my parents' struggle in exile, their struggle to live and stay alive. It’s about the savage killings of Tutsis in 1959 and the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi, but it’s also about the triumphs that we endured as a family.
It’s a book about my mother and her love, hope, faith, and forgiveness.
It’s a testament to the resilience of a refugee child and a family going through so much yet always remaining hopeful.
It’s a book about a stranger’s patience, empathy, and generosity and about the gift of life and what it has taught me—endurance, courage, persistence, and a belief in my dreams as they have become big dreams. It is a book about my wounds and scars and how they remind me of a future yet unknown.
Over the years, I have walked through my share of thorny, muddy lands. Blades of grass have cut my feet, and my tender heels have been drilled into by nasty critters. I’ve faced more than my portion of cruel and evil-spirited human intent on breaking me down. To forgive all that tried its best to cut me down, chew me up, and spit me out, I’ve learned to forgive.
For me, forgiveness has become the most unique and beautiful part of me as my learned compassion always reminds me of how my past has influenced me to embrace my future. To become entangled in the negative of the past would have only slowed me down and left me bitter. I do not want nor do I need either. For I am a warrior who will charge forward and leave my mark on this land we call home.
I will not tire, tarry, nor will I falter. Nothing negative will slow me down.
I embrace my constant search for love and hope and keep my faith close while I continue to forgive a noisy and thorny world.
In the end, I chose the light of day rather than the darkness of night. Love, hope, faith, and forgiveness are the paths of virtue I choose to walk.
About the Author
Edwin Sabuhoro, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management and African Studies at Pennsylvania State University. He lives in State College, Pennsylvania.
He works with local communities in the Virunga Mountains, home to endangered Mountain Gorillas. Over the past fifteen years, Edwin has established integrated conservation and community development programs that have addressed the challenges of indigenous communities, promoted socio-economic development, and led to improved conservation outcomes for mountain gorillas and their habitats.
His efforts have been recognized through numerous awards, including the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) 2008 Young Conservationist of the Year Award, the 2015 UN-GRASP-Ian Redmond Conservation Award in 2015, and the 2016 eChievement Award, among others.
He was selected and invited by President Obama to participate in the 2010 Young African Leaders Forum in Washington D.C.
His work with Mountain Gorillas and indigenous people was featured on the 2015 CNN African Voices, and he was recognized among the 2015 CNN Heroes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dorrance Publishing Company
• Release date: Jun 16, 2023
• ISBN: 9798886048261

Book preview

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Mum, this is for you!

My beautiful and always inspiring Mum, Jolly Catherine Boonabaana, my guiding angel…

If not for my beautiful Mum, I may never have had the inspiration nor the will to become who I have become. I think of Mum every day of my life, and I thank God for having been born to such an extraordinary human being. She gave her everything to my siblings and me. She especially gave me the grit to persevere and achieve my highest hopes.

Mum, this book is for you and all your crazy dreams that were never crazy at all. I look forward to the day we’ll be together again. Until then, I will hold you in my mind and in my heart!

And, to you - the refugees, particularly the children whose childhood will never be the same, there is hope.

Author’s Note

The following names listed here are pseudonyms:

Margaret, Benjamin, William, Jacy, Elijah, Patricia, Lisa, Jennifer,

Richard, Anthony, Andrew, Timothy, Olivia, and Charles.

* * * * * * * *

I dedicate this book to all those who helped me make it a reality!

Also, it's in honor of my late dad Mpama Titien, who had a huge impact on us all;

my late mother Jolly Boonabana, who was the best friend we could ever have;

and my siblings as well as our children Keza, Ishimwe, Kunda, Sabuhoro,

Isaro, Nkwanzi, Ishami, Ihunde, Nkunda, and Kwizera.

Prologue

I was born a refugee in my mum’s home country of Uganda. My father’s home country was Rwanda.

In 1961, my paternal family fled Rwanda. The first of four waves of mass killings of Tutsis occurred in 1959. My family feared a second wave was imminent. They were Tutsi.

For nearly twenty years, I lived and attended school in exile.

For the first time in my life, in 1995, I set foot in my father’s homeland. It was the year following the fourth wave of killings. The year is known as the 1994 Rwandan Genocide against Tutsi.

The one-hundred-day-long genocide led to over eight hundred thousand Tutsis and suspected Hutu sympathizers who died by the crudest means at the hands of the majority Hutu population. The Hutu government ordered the killings. The government intended to exterminate the Tutsi people.

The killers used machetes and clubs. Some of the clubs bore nails with the sharp points protruding outward, ensuring a quick yet painful death.

Expediency was vital for the killers. Clear the bush! became the government’s orders to kill every Tutsi possible.

The rest of the world stood idle and watched until it was too late.

Human blood stained the earth; it colored the rivers. The air was thick with the stench of rotting flesh. When the slaughter was over, it was over.

As long as I live, I will never forget how I felt when I first stepped foot on Rwandan soil. I felt delighted, joyful, and relieved. Finally, I was home.

CHAPTER ONE

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My Paternal Great-Grandfather

Oral history was the traditional means of passing on information and heritage to future generations. My family history came alive with tales of the royal courts of both Uganda and Rwanda. My ancestors were great men and women. I especially enjoyed listening to my father’s grandfather, Nzigiye’s stories. I also learned that Nzigiye’s father’s name was Rwishyura. As a young boy, I enjoyed learning the names and escapades of all my ancestors going back generations. The stories told orally made my family’s history feel authentic and alive with adventure. Through these rich tales, I felt connected to my family's history and found my place within it.

Nzigiye was born and raised in the pre-colonial Kingdom of Ruanda. He was a fearless warrior who led an entire warrior force as they conquered lands and expelled enemies intending to invade and attack Rwanda’s Kingdom.

During the era of Great-Grandfather, King Rwabugiri (1853-1895), also called the Mwami, was the supreme leader of the Kingdom. King Rwabugiri took note of Great-Grandfather’s unique abilities and promoted Nzigiye to become one of his right-hand men, an exalted rank. The king’s right-hand men were some of his most trusted subjects. They were considered members of the king’s court.

Great-Grandfather became famous within the entire kingdom. His sense of humor, courage, and willingness to take risks were well known and widely admired. Over time, Nzigiye earned the honor as the most trusted among the king’s right-hand men. He thus became the second most influential leader of the kingdom.

Fearlessness was also one of Great-Grandfather’s attributes as he and his military squad expelled enemies from neighboring Ankole, one of the traditional Bantu Kingdoms of Uganda. Later in life, Great-Grandfather would become a chief as he ruled under the King in battles. The King rewarded Nzigiye by gifting him with Inyambo cows, as well as with land. The mighty Inyambo cow was a celebrated breed owned only by the King. Great-Grandfather soon owned many of the royal bovines.

Unlike traditional cows, the Inyambo is a sight to behold. Different from all other bovines, their horns are massive! In addition, they curve out and up from the head. Yet, these royal cows hold an equally regal stature in the Rwandan tradition and culture.

As a chief, Great-Grandfather continued to win every battle he fought. However, he didn’t remain chief for long. He was far too valuable. Thus, the king again promoted him.

This time, all Nzigiye’s attributes, combined with his masterful storytelling, peppered with humor, inspired his promotion. King Rwabugiri liked and admired Nzigiye so much that he promoted him to become one of his advisors. It soon became evident that the king enjoyed Nzigiye’s companionship.

Great-Grandfather’s storytelling was legendary. The king and his advisors sat around campfires and enjoyed banana beer; a special brew made only for the king and his royal court. The men who made up the king’s court appreciated listening to Nzigiye’s stories because not only would the king laugh hardily, but they also felt Nzigiye’s words encouraged the king to lighten the severity of his rule over his advisors and subjects. Soon, however, the other advisors would begin to turn on Great-Grandfather as they became envious of Nzigiye’s status. The King’s apparent trust, respect, and unique feelings for Nzigiye had become all too evident.

Jealousy and intrigue became pronounced once the king began treating Nzigiye with reverence. It became clear to the other advisors that King Rawabugiri considered Nzigiye to be more than an advisor. The king’s behavior communicated that he viewed Nzigiye as an equal partner. This particular treatment morphed into a genuine hatred for Great-Grandfather for the other advisors. Not only did the advisors despise Nzigiye, but so did the king’s wife, Queen-Mother Kanjogera. She had utter disdain for Nzigiye as she too was jealous of Nzigiye’s favor with the king.

The most blatant example of Great-Grandfather’s prowess occurred within the palace walls. Nzigiye’s power grew to make decisions customarily made only by the king.

On one particular day, Nzigiye announced one of those decisions in front of the queen-mother, the king, and the other advisors. The queen-mother became so angry that she loudly protested. Nzigiye was standing close enough to the queen-mother as he reached over to her and slapped her across the face. To everyone’s astonishment, the king didn’t bat an eye, nor did he verbally protest. Instead, his silence and facial expressions spoke of his approval. Everyone present, including the queen-mother, was shocked by the king’s silence which implied consent of the slap.

Great-Grandfather’s closeness to the king and the slap became an entrance for Nzigiye to bring his wife, children, and siblings into the palace to live. The king’s trust and Nzigiye’s new residence gave the king freedom to, with his son, Prince Rwigenza, leave the stronghold and tour the outskirts of their domain. However, the king’s confidence would soon backfire on Great-Grandfather.

Nzigiye was physically attracted to the royal prince’s wife, as she acknowledged her attraction for Nzigiye. During the absence of Prince Rwigenza, Nzigiye and the princess consummated their feelings for one another. The royal guards became aware of the affair. Thus, the guards immediately apprised him of the infidelity upon the prince’s return. The prince was enraged but wished to catch the couple in the act, so he ordered his special guards to keep an eye on Nzigiye. The prince ordered the guards to arrest Nzigiye in the act of committing what the prince labeled treason.

The next opportunity came soon as the king and prince again left the palace. However, this time, Nzigiye brought his brother, my namesake-Sabuhoro*. Nzigiye charged Sabuhoro with watching for the prince to return, or the prince’s warriors skulking around as Great-Grandfather was sure they intended to arrest him. As soon as Sabuhoro spotted the warriors, he alerted Great-Grandfather, enabling him to escape!

The story of Nzigiye’s escape was legendary as Great-Grandfather was known as a fast and agile runner. He was able to outrun the warriors. Unfortunately, the warriors arrested Sabuhoro instead.

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* Unlike western culture, Rwandans assign a special significance to each of their offspring by giving each child a unique and meaningful last name. Thus, my exclusive surname, Sabuhoro, honors the noble loyalty of my paternal great-grandfather’s brother, Sabuhoro.

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When the prince returned to the palace, he was so angry that he ordered the public hanging of Sabuhoro. If the prince couldn’t execute the accused, he would take the life of the apprehended brother.

As Sabuhoro stood beneath a tree with the rope around his neck, the warriors waited for the prince’s command to hoist the noose. Sabuhoro groaned in anguish as everyone in the yard laughed and mocked him. In his last attempt for mercy, Sabuhoro begged the prince to allow him to voice his final plea. The prince granted his wish. Sabuhoro eloquently made a case for himself.

He asked the prince why he would allow his hanging because the person who committed the crime had escaped arrest? Sabuhoro further pointed out that the other person who committed the crime with the perpetrator was present at his hanging and laughed with everyone else. The prince didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he appeared deep in thought as he pondered Sabuhoro’s question. Finally, when he made his decision, the prince spoke.

He commanded the warriors to lay down the spears and arrows gathered to kill Sabuhoro if the rope had failed to take his life. He then commanded the warriors to untie Sabuhoro and to set him free.

At that very moment, the creation of the first public law took place. From that day forth, a family member could not be arrested and condemned for a crime committed by another family member. The only punishment to be dispensed would be to punish the guilty person for their crime.

Nzigiye did all he could to avoid the prince, the kingdom, and the other royal family members. Instead, Nzigiye returned to his former position as Chief of the region of Mutara. Then, without warning, one day, the king visited Nzigiye’s Mutara.

The king spotted Nzigiye as he also noted that his royal cows were in exceptional health. Not only was the herd well cared for, but they had multiplied. Under his former confidant, Nzigiye, the region’s condition demonstrated Nzigiye’s talents as a ruler. The king was so pleased as it became apparent, he still held the same admiration for Nzigiye. Later, the king called for Nzigiye’s return to the palace to command a warriors’ unit once again. Great-Grandfather did return to the castle; however, he later died as a hero on the battlefield.

Shortly after Nzigiye’s death, the king also passed. Since the prince was still too young to become king, the queen-mother assumed her expired husband’s rule of the Kingdom. Nevertheless, the queen-mother held onto her anger when the king deferred to Nzigiye. Rumors that she would seek revenge by attacking Nzigiye’s family reached Nzigiye’s son, my grandfather. Consequently, Grandfather Rukizangabo and his brother Rwatangabo decided to move their families far away from the palace to avoid death.

CHAPTER TWO

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Rwanda’s Painful History

This chapter is not only my story. It is the story of my home, Rwanda.

Rwanda is a land-locked nation. To the west and northwest are volcanos, mountains, and hills. Rwanda is known for its hills. Thus, the country is known as the Land of a Thousand Hills.

To the east lies a sparsely wooded Savanna. Savannas are flat, grassy plains in tropical and subtropical regions. There are few trees on the Savanna.

The southeast is arid and desert-like. However, numerous lakes and rivers add to the beauty of the countryside. The largest body of water, Lake Kivu, lies on the border between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Adding to Rwanda’s beauty are the unique animals, including water buffalo, elephants, mountain gorillas, hippopotamuses, leopards, lions, black rhinos, giraffes, giant forest hogs, zebras, as well as several varieties of the Bovidae family, which includes antelope, impala, and gazelle. In addition, numerous species of birds make their home in Rwanda. Primates include gorillas and baboons, chimpanzees, and several monkey species. All this beauty would lead a person to imagine a land-locked paradise. Unfortunately, however, a dark and troubled history plagues Rwanda. Yet, Rwanda is not alone.

Since the latter part of the nineteenth century, the entire continent of Africa has suffered at the hands of the land-grabbing western European countries seeking to exploit human labor and a wealth of natural resources. Being landlocked, Ruanda* was spared the misery of colonialism for at least a decade after other countries such as the Congo began suffering from foreign government rule. Yet, many countries, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, are still suffering the aftermath of imperialism.

To this day, European and Asian countries and other countries in the northern hemisphere maintain a significant presence as their private enterprises continue to exploit the African Continent. These enterprises may cloak themselves in capitalism as private corporations, yet the impostors are still present as they quietly continue to use the Continent and its people.

During colonial rule, distant countries instituted laws that stripped Africans of their inherent rights to their land. These nations stole the wealth of minerals lying on top of and beneath the surface of Africa’s soil. Although to this day, the African countries and their resources are the property of the local governments, those resources are exploited for profit by private industries based in the original colonial nations and other countries such as China. Africa is still being looted of its resources, while most native-born citizens see little of the wealth produced.

Although the Congo suffered exploitation by the Colonialists and its people were beaten down or sold into slavery, Ruanda sat unscathed by the abuse. No European stepped foot on Ruanda soil until the late nineteenth century.

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*  Pre and during colonialism, the spelling of Rwanda was Ruanda.

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In 1894, German-born Count von Gotzen arrived in what was then called Ruanda-Urundi. Oral history tells the story of how surprised the Ruandan king, Mwami Kigeri IV Rwabugiri, was to find that his land was no longer his and hadn’t been for at least ten years. The king learned of his Country’s fate from the Count. Until then, Germany had preoccupied its efforts in its more massive colony to the east, Tanzania. Where Ruanda was landlocked, Tanzania had access to the Indian Ocean. Being landlocked was a blessing for Ruanda. At least, in the beginning, all lands with access to oceans suffered brutally under colonial rule.

The Continent’s massive land grab began with the Belgian colonists ruled by a narcissistic Head of State, King Leopold II. Having access to the sea was critical for Leopold’s Belgium because Leopold idolized greed. Leopold coveted physical objects, gleaming items like gold and jewels. The Congo Free State, now called the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was flush with resources. Under the dirt and rock, diamonds, gold, emeralds, uranium, copper, cobalt, oil, coltan littered the land. The trees of the Congo also bore wealth. The Congo had numerous rubber trees. King Leopold II lusted for it all.

King Leopold had a reputation as a nation builder who had free reign granted by the Belgian civil government. Following Belgium’s lead, other major European countries, including Germany, France, and Great Britain, began participating in empire-building. They all sought to control the wealth of resources offered by Africa’s mighty and ancient continent. And so, expansionism and exploitation began with a furry.

Over time and history, our species has come to recognize that its most potent yet terrifying weapon ever invented is money! The Colonial states had it, while the African countries and their people did not and, for the most part, still don’t.

Once the European colonization of Africa was complete, the colonial nations of Europe, at the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885, gave Leopold’s claim to the Congo explicit and full legal authorization. However, there was one stipulation. Leopold must improve the lives of the native inhabitants of his Congo Free State. Ruanda began its colonial history during the same conference as it, then Ruanda-Urundi was handed over to Germany. To the north of both states was Uganda, which the United Kingdom acquired. The United Kingdom also took ownership of Africa’s northern territories, including the Egyptian Sudan and large swaths of land in the north part of the continent and the eastern part, such as Kenya.

Never intending to honor his commitment to improving the lives of his subjects, Leopold completely ignored the promise he swore to uphold. Instead, he used the Congo, with its access to the Atlantic Ocean, to further enhance his wealth as he influenced the creation and utilization of the Force Publique, a military comprised of Belgian regular soldiers and mercenaries from other countries with a mandate to keep the natives in check. 

As a result, the Congolese people suffered tremendously under Belgian rule. Not only was their land grabbed, but the flogging of men and women became common practice. Also, the rape of women occurred frequently. Likewise, another punishment became commonplace, a penalty that would not bode well for the future people of Ruanda.

Burning down Congolese villages became an accepted norm for the ruling Belgian colonists. Thus, the people of Ruanda-Urundi knew they didn’t want anything to do with the Belgians. So, when Count von Gotzen arrived from Germany, the Mwami welcomed him.

Liking what he observed, the Count sent word back to Germany that nothing should change in Ruanda-Urundi. The kingdom had a well-structured system that divided the country into provinces, districts, hills, and neighborhoods. Maintaining stability came from a hierarchy of chiefs, primarily of Tutsi origin, but included Hutu chiefs. To the meticulous nature of the Germans, Ruanda-Urundi was a well-oiled machine. However, the Mwami feared invasion by other European colonists. Thus, the Germans agreed to equip the Ruandans with guns. From 1853-1894, Mwami Rwabugiri ruled as he kept all foreigners from entering his kingdom. He also protected his people from the slave trade plaguing occupied neighboring countries, including the Belgian Congo and other central and western nations of Africa.

Germany maintained a hands-off practice until the untimely death of Mwami Rwabugiri in 1895. The passing of the Mwami influenced a feud over who would become the next king. Although Rwabugiri’s son, Rutarindwa, was the rightful heir, his stepmother, Kanjogera, is believed to have ordered Rutarindwa’s assassination. She wanted her biological son, Musinga, to reign. This royal intrigue influenced Germany that it was time to move in physically.

In Ruanda, however, the establishment of German rule was not as overt as that of the Belgian-ruled Congo. Instead, Germany preferred to keep the traditional native system intact. Thus, they chose to implement German influence until World War I by assigning German agents to local courts. The German agents’ presence rendered Kanjogera virtually powerless, influencing many Ruandans to believe that their last true king was Rwabugiri.

Then came World War I, which changed everything for my country.

During the First World War, Germany invaded the declared neutral nation of Belgium. In retaliation, Belgium fought back by invading Ruanda. Sealing my country’s fate, the post-war League of Nations granted Belgium a mandate to rule Ruanda. Post-1924, life began to change.

Fearing Belgium’s rule, Ruandans begged the Germans to stay. However, the War had bled Germany dry. They could no longer afford to remain involved with a country so far from theirs. Thus, Ruanda fell under the brutal rule of Belgium.

Although the Belgians did not choose to rule Ruanda as they ran the Congo, they did indeed wreak havoc on my country.

Until Belgian rule, the three cultural groups of Ruanda, Tutsi, Hutu, and Twa or Batwa (the indigenous forest dwellers) lived in relative harmony. However, whereas the Germans recognized the cultural cohesiveness of our people, the Belgians failed to acknowledge that accord. Instead, they saw only differences, including a difference in physical appearance, as they sought to exploit variance between the two more dominant groups, Tutsi and Hutu.

Because the Tutsi are traditionally taller and slender, the Belgians viewed Tutsi as superior. On the other hand, the Belgians looked down on our shorter and bulkier Hutu brothers and sisters. Thus, the Belgians viewed the Hutu as inferior in every way. Regardless of their reasons, the Belgians began nurturing a culture of cruel divisiveness.

The Belgians sought to document the Tutsi and Hutu differences for all future purposes to assist this disunity. They did this beginning in the earlier years of their occupancy.

Belgium commissioned their scientists to come into the country to officially distinguish the two groups into two entirely different races of people. Then, to further enforce racial dominance, they appointed the Tutsi to administer the government, creating a physical and emotional chasm between the two once harmonious groups.

Before Belgian rule, Tutsi and Hutu were friends and neighbors. Some were related as intermarriage was commonplace. However, for the next several decades, resentments festered among the Hutu. Then, in 1935, Belgium created an even greater divide between the two groups by issuing mandatory identification cards.

Everyone, whether designated as Tutsi, Hutu, or Twa, was required to carry their ID card on their person at all times. Before the ID cards, ethnic differences were more inferred than defined. However, the physical ID described those differences as they became set in stone. Prior to ID cards, intermarriage still took place occasionally, especially among Tutsis and Hutus, but the cards’ physical establishment curtailed that practice. Hutu hatred for the Tutsi festered right up to a rush toward independence from Belgium in the late 1950s.

In particular, the 1950’s decade was ominous for Ruanda.

Belgium feared the breakout of a revolution, so to avoid a revolt, they removed the Tutsi from the government and installed the more populous Hutu group. Unfortunately, this switch emboldened the Hutu, especially those radical factions that established themselves during the transformative ethnic split.

If they know anything about Ruandan’s mid to late-twentieth-century history, many people are at least nominally aware of the 1994 Hutu attempt to commit genocide on the Tutsi. Although the most brutal, that incident was only one of four efforts at eliminating an entire ethnic group.

As the chokehold of Colonialism and then post-colonial chaos and tyranny had on the Continent, the world stood still, not even noticing the carnage that was taking place in that far-away land populated by those dark-skinned heathens and tribal primitives. At the same time, in Ruanda, one ethnic group slaughtered thousands of innocent people as they tried to wipe the Tutsi off the face of this planet.

The first attempt took shape between 1957 and 1959. In 1957, Hutu leaders published what they called the Hutu Manifesto. The publication intended to escalate Hutu hatred for Tutsi as Hutu leaders prepared their Hutu supporters for the bloodbath that would come.

That slaughter came in 1959 when Tutsi activists attacked a Hutu rival. Although the victim survived, rumors of his death spread like wildfire through the Hutu population resulting in a nationwide campaign of Hutu violence against the Tutsi.

This first massacre lasting several months became known as ‘the wind of destruction.’ At the same time, many Tutsi, including the twenty-five-year-old hereditary ruler, the Mwami, fled Ruanda. The absence of a monarchy would prove detrimental to a Tutsi future and Ruanda in general. 

During the elections of 1960, the Hutu politicians scored an overwhelming victory as one of the authors of the Hutu Manifesto, Gregoire Kayibanda, led a provisional government during the interim period between colonialism and independence.

Independence came in 1962. Notwithstanding U.N. pressure for Ruanda and its southern neighbor Urundi to federate as one nation, the territories decided to separate. Despite that, ethnic violence continued in Ruanda between 1959 and 1961. In 1962, the U.N. declared the region a republic. The ‘republic’ declaration was due to the absence of the young Mwami as the monarchy was proclaimed defunct, and the republic assertion was made official. After the announcement, the government changed the spelling from Ruanda to Rwanda’s modern-day spelling.

Immediately following independence, Rwanda held its first presidential election. Gregoire Kayibanda was declared the President of the Republic of Rwanda. Since his party’s name translated to ‘the Party for Hutu Emancipation,’ it became blatantly obvious his presidency’s central focus was to eliminate the Tutsis. Within the pages of that manifesto, the coining of the name ‘cockroach’ became synonymous with the minority Tutsi population. As a result, the killing of the cockroaches became an all-too dominant theme of Rwandan life. This growing hatred gave rise to the Hutu government’s determination to maintain control as it freely whipped up the frenzy of hatred any time it perceived a crisis. That crisis reared its head in 1963. 

In December 1963, several hundred exiled Tutsi guerrilla rebels entered Rwanda from Burundi and advanced within twelve miles of the capital of Kigali. My father’s elder brother was the Tutsi rebel chief, Aloys Ngurumbe. However, the Rwandan army managed to push them back. The event gave the government just the ammunition for which it hungered. It thus declared a state of emergency and gave the order to ‘clear the bush’ of subversive elements, a clandestine term for killing the cockroaches. 

Throughout only a few days, fourteen thousand Tutsi were massacred in the southern province of Gikongoro and became known as the worst systematic massacre since the Holocaust. However, the actual worst of the four massacres was yet to come. 

The third wave of killings took place in 1973. It began in a small section of Rwanda and spread to other areas when the killings abruptly stopped. Unfortunately, descriptions of the sequence of events for this third wave were all too similar to the previous occurrences.

 Rumors would emerge among the Rwandans that a massacre was about to happen. But before all such mass-murders, there seemed to be a certainty that established itself. Over time, the slaughters influenced the creation of a new official name, muyaga, which translated meant wind.

Like a terrible wind, the event would begin with rage, then as the wind would abruptly end, so would the carnage. No one knew when the bloodshed would come. But like the wind, the gusts carried the whispers into every nook and cranny of the country.

Looting by Hutus of Tutsi property would be the first indication that the event had begun. Next, the attackers would set Tutsi houses on fire. Then the actual killing would take place with the killers, the Hutu, and those killed, the Tutsi. The slayings would last as long as the wind blew. Finally, a command would stop the slaughter. In the hinterland, that command to stop began with the beating of drums, followed by calls from hilltops, Ihumure… ihumure… ihumure… or, This is a time for calm. At the announcement, the violence would abruptly cease. Killers would return home, and Tutsis, still alive, would return to where their houses stood.

If there can be logic in insanity, the massacres of Rwanda are an example of rational insanity. The reasoning went like this.

The looting would begin at the behest of the Hutu leaders, who would command to proceed with the terror. Next, the looting would escalate to the burning of the ransacked houses. As it always did, the pillaging and the burning would create concern about what would happen when the violence ended.

The big question is, would there be retribution on the part of the affected Tutsi? Would the rightful owners of the stolen goods demand their property be returned? Since that was a real possibility, then the Hutu attackers must eliminate the rightful owners. Thus, the killings would take place. However, it wasn’t enough to kill only the male rightful owner of the goods. The family members, who could claim the goods, also needed to be eliminated. Thus, insanity would become articulated.

The latest massacre of 1973 coincided with the unrest that was taking place among the Hutu supporters of Gregoire Kayibanda’s regime. The fighting within the Hutu leadership had erupted. To gather support for his administration, the president rallied the Hutu population to prepare for the massacres (muyaga) aimed at their common enemy, the Tutsi. Next, Kayibanda stoked the flame of hatred for Tutsi. With tension at a boiling point, the president’s supporters embraced his plan, followed by his opposition’s involvement. The resistance saw the violence as justification for a coup that caused the loss of thousands of Tutsi lives during this muyaga as it had during the two preceding massacres. During this same period, thousands more Tutsi fled the country.

The planned coup d’état took place that same year of 1973.

Gregoire Kayibanda was removed from power by several army officers who subsequently installed Major General Juvenal Habyarimana. Habyarimana remained in control for the next twenty-one years, running a conventional military dictatorship, which several European countries, including France, initially supported. However, Habyarimana’s Hutu ethnic policy, which was essentially an extension of the former regime’s policy, eventually became a moral problem for the French.

Just across Rwanda’s borders, a vast number of Tutsi exiles were becoming increasingly unwelcome by their host countries. Yet, sending the refugees home became futile as Rwanda rejected them, claiming that the nation was sufficiently populated.

In 1986, Habyarimana declared a policy of denial for all refugee repatriation. Thus, the exiles formed the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) during the following year as it committed itself to an armed struggle against the sitting regime. The nucleus of the RPF were Tutsi officers serving in the Ugandan army. One of those officers, Paul Kagame, would later become Rwanda’s president. 

The RPF army’s plan to forcefully return home began to take shape early in 1990. October first became the targeted date the RPF officers determined they would take action. Thus, on October first, Major General Fred Gisa Rwigema and several RPF officers deserted from the Ugandan army taking their equipment with them. The newly formed RPF subsequently moved south and crossed the border into Rwanda. The invasion sparked an all-out civil war between the Rwandan army and the RPF.

Initially, Habyarimana resisted the RPF invasion as French President Mitterrand deployed paratroopers to assist Habyarimana’s effort to crush the attack. However, this initial resistance became a precursor to the horrific genocide as Habyarimana’s government encouraged a new wave of Tutsi persecution. 

In December 1990, the country’s most virulent racist newspaper Kangura published the Hutu Ten Commandments, nothing less than a litany of hatred aimed at the Tutsi population. The commandments attributed treachery and dishonesty to all Tutsi and condemned any Hutu who befriended Tutsis. The eighth commandment, which became the tenor of hatred, stated that ‘Hutus must stop having mercy on the Tutsis.’ This commandment gave rise to a new breed of ethnic battle cry called Hutu Power.

Sanctioned by the Habyarimana regime in 1991, the government recruited Hutu youth militias, which became known as the Interahamwe or ‘those who attack together,’ setting the stage for what happened next.

The Tutsi Genocide of 1994

While the Rest of the World Stood Still, Watched, and Did Nothing!

Immediately following the youth militias’ recruitment, their violent members, all young men, roared through the streets on motorbikes. Endorsed by the government, the militia members felt powerful as they fed their hatred with drunken rallies held under portraits of President Habyarimana. In seclusion, they assembled as they perfected the skills of manipulating machetes. They set fire to houses owned by Tutsi and those owned by suspected Hutu sympathizers during this period. They also utilized the government resources to draw up names garnered from the Belgian instituted ID cards. As a result and from the ID cards, the members of the Interahamwe knew who was Tutsi and who were Hutu sympathizers. None of the victims could hide. To make matters worse, and thanks to the Belgian government’s colonial efforts of causing the division between the two ethnic groups, the Interahamwe also knew where the victims lived! During this period and fueled by the government, the mood of ethnic violence blazed. In March 1992, the government intentionally fueled that flame of rage when it ordered its government-owned Radio Rwanda station to spread a false rumor that the government had uncovered a Tutsi plot to massacre Hutus.

By 1992, however, Habyarimana had begun losing his popularity among his extremist supporters. His failure to completely suppress the RPF guerrillas came under scrutiny by international powers pressuring him to deal with the rebels. As a result, he began negotiations with the RPF. However, the peace initiatives infuriated the Hutu Power criminals as news spread that the government had declared a ceasefire with the Tutsi. In August 1992, the ceasefire news provoked a new wave of attacks on Tutsis. Nevertheless, the peace process continued over the next year as it further alienated the Habyarimana regime from its former supporters.

In August 1993, following talks at the Arusha Accords in Tanzania, Habyarimana signed a peace treaty with the RPF, officially declaring peace. However, the treaty went even further than merely proclaiming an end to the war. Habyarimana negotiated the right of return for all Rwanda’s refugees, merging the RPF with the national army and establishing a transitional period leading up to elections and a democratic government. During the transition, Habyarimana agreed to establish a provisional government, which would include RPF representation. Also, the government invited U.N. forces into Rwanda to secure the process. However, Habyarimana’s efforts to peacefully resolve the conflict failed. The peaceful resolution efforts and terms enraged the Interahamwe and their political supporters.

On April 6, 1994, a rocket believed to have been fired by Hutu extremists hit the plane carrying Habyarimana and the head of state of neighboring Burundi, killing all on board. The Interahamwe and its supporters immediately blamed the Tutsis for Habyarimana’s assassination and all other passengers’ death on the plane. The President’s assassination gave justification to the Hutu extremists to launch the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.

Over the following weeks, a killing orgy exploded. Fueling the orgy were state radio broadcasts that urged the people to do your duty with instructions to seek out Tutsi and Tutsi-sympathizers living among the Tutsi. Eliminating the "cockroaches" was the command.

On April 29, 1994, the state radio announced that May fifth would be the cleanup day during which all Tutsis in Rwanda must perish!  One infamous broadcast even suggested that, in the interest of thoroughness, the attackers should rip the unborn Tutsi children from the wombs of their pregnant mums. Thus, the 1994 One-Hundred-Day Genocide would become the first mass killing during which the murder of children was allowed and encouraged.

In this environment of utter hatred, the Interahamwe and a large portion of ordinary Hutus, whose peers gave the ultimatum to kill or die, went to work with a fury never recorded in human history. Between April and July, also known as the One Hundred Days of Slaughter, an estimated eight hundred thousand Rwandans perished most cruelly and crudely. The weapon of preference was the everyday agriculture tool, the machete. Though present at the time, the U.N. forces stood idly by as the U.N. wasted precious time deciding what to do. The U.N. was reluctant to declare the genocide for what it was, an ethnic cleansing. Years later, former U.S. President Bill Clinton described his country’s reluctance to intervene as his presidency’s greatest regret. It was terrible that so many of my countrymen and women were hacked to death while the entire world stood by and watched in absolute silence!

During the initial stages of the bloodbath, the default Hutu Prime Minister, the Constitutional Head of State, Agathe Uwilingiyimana, and her husband were murdered by the government’s own Presidential Guard (all Hutu soldiers). Ironically, the Guard’s original orders were to protect the Prime Minister and her family. Once dead, the Guard turned on the ten Belgian U.N. peacekeepers also charged with protecting the new head of state. The Guard ordered the Belgians to lay down their arms.

At first, the Belgians stood their ground. But eventually, the Guard captured and then methodically tortured and murdered all ten Belgians.

It was as if the gates of hell had opened up and swallowed everyone that day on that blood-drenched ground!

The Rwandan carnage ended in July 1994 and only after the RPF army, led by Kagame, took over the country. An estimated two million Hutu fled across the border into Zaire (formerly the Congo), Burundi, and Tanzania following the takeover. Fearing possible revenge, the fleeing Hutus ran from the RPF. Many others fled from the crazed Interahamwe militias.

Post Genocide

Immediately following the genocide, chaos broke out. Since the murderers would not allow burials, bodies littered the country. They were everywhere! Thousands of corpses were dumped into the northern flowing Nyabarongo River, thus sending the Tutsi