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28 January 1961

Introduction and background:


The date of 28 January 1961 will remain unforgettable in Rwandan history due to the socio and political changes that it introduced in Rwanda. For a period of more than three hundred years before that date, all various parts of the country (not yet forcefully amalgamated into a single country) were governed by monarchies.
 
The monarchy was ruling with an iron fist which resulted in many protests and claims for a change in the governing system. This had started in 1940s with the formation of some social organisations such as Movement Social Muhutu (Hutu Social Movement) that had turned into political parties opposing to the monarchy regime and its practices. Leaders of those political parties became enemies of the regime. Many were physically eliminated while others were seriously injured and left with permanent disabilities. However, the fight for change continued and the monarchy sympathisers intensified their aggressions, to the point where they attacked, humiliated and beat Dominique Mbonyumutwa on his way from Church on November 1, 1959. Mbonyumutwa was one of the leaders of the main opposition parties (MDR-Parmehutu, formerly Hutu Social Movement.

 

This event sparked the revolutionary violence mainly directed towards the leaders of the monarchy and their representatives. The palace reacted with full force to annihilate the people, but in vain. The colonial power (Belgium) could also not contain the people that were so decisive in changing the regime that had been oppressing them. Many monarchists, mainly those that were occupying political positions ran away, creating power vacuum in the country. The colonial power named temporary replacements, in preparation of municipal elections (June-July 1960) to definitively and democratically replace the deceased or exiled leaders. The opposition parties emerged victorious, with the MDR topping the list by far.

With the results from the elections, the King (Kigeli V Ndahindurwa) realised that his powers and authority were considerably diminished. He decided to leave the country without clear information of his outing, which happened to be exceptionally long.

 

 

The event of ending his reign (28 January 1961).

 


Taking advantage of the King’s overstay outside the country, the colonial administration, as well as the Hutu leaders, declared him persona non grata (non-wanted person) in Rwanda, citing political and public security as reasons. Furthermore, the members of the provisional government led by Prime Minister Grégoire Kayibanda, the members of the provisional parliament, the leaders of opposition political parties, together with the newly elected municipal representatives were called by the then Minister of Internal Affairs-Jean Baptiste Rwasibo- to attend a congress in Gitarama on January 28, 1961 with one item on the agenda: “measures to take in order to maintain order and peace in the country”. The colonial power had been informed and had given its green light. Many things indeed happened on that day:


Introducing the Congress, the convener briefed about the agenda of the meeting, and passed the floor to other speakers in the following order:

  • Joseph Habyarimana Gitera (leader of APROSOMA, the second influential opposition party), announced in the Kinyarwanda language, the abolition of the monarchy and its replacement with Republic, the suppression of Kalinga (drum symbol of monarchy) and its replacement with a three colour flag: red, yellow and green. Then he screams: “Viva the Republic!” and the cloud replied “Viva the Republic!”

  • Then, the Prime Minister-Grégoire Kayibanda- took to the floor and reiterated in French the words that had just been spoken by Gitera.

  • The convener (Rwasibo) invited the congress attendees to elect the MPs first, then the President of the country. 

 

The elections of MPs distributed the seats throughout the provinces of the country in the following order:
Astrida: 8 MPs
Kigali and Ruhengeri: 5 MPs each
Gitarama, Nyanza, Kibungo, Byumba and Gisenyi: 4 MPs each
Kibuye and Cyangugu: 3 MPs each.  Three more MPs were chosen by the newly elected MPs, and these were from Byumba, Gitarama and Nyanza each.


With regard to the Speaker of the Parliament, Joseph Gitera was elected without any difficulties.
Concerning the Presidency of the country, each party was invited to nominate its candidate: The MDR presented Dominique Mbonyumutwa, who won with 83% of the votes, while Joseph Gitera of Aprosoma recieved 15% of the votes.

Kayibanda who was already the Prime Minister since October 18th 1960, was officially confirmed in the post by the newly elected President of the Republic (Mbonyumutwa), and the former proceeded by the formation of his ministerial team.
President Mbonyumutwa announced the creation of the Supreme Court as well as the nomination of the governors of the 10 provinces.

 

As one would predict, the reaction of the monarchists was the condemnation and rejection of the resolutions of the congress (also called Coup d’ Etat de Gitarama) while the colonialists on ground recommended the results to the Belgian government. The UN also accepted the outcome of the Gitarama congress, and requested that amnesty be granted to the people that had been jailed following the violence that had erupted since 1959. Together with the new authorities, the colonial power granted amnesty in a way of instilling peace, reconciliation towards social cohesion.

 

Conclusion


This is how an act of bravura happened in Rwanda, marking a major landscape in its socio-political life. Today, while we commemorate this event for the 53rd time, it is time for us Rwandans from across racial divides to have a retrospective view of the roots of such an historic event, understand what it had intended to achieve, and draw important lessons about our cohabitation for a better future.


Long live Rwanda; long live the Rwandan people and its history.
Rwandan Heritage Foundation.

© 2015, Rwandan Heritage Foundation.                                        Site by: TRI-POT Media.

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