{UAH} Rwanda: To What Extent Did The Hamitic Myth Prepare Ground For 1994?

Rwanda: To What Extent Did The Hamitic Myth Prepare Ground For 1994?

Written by: La'Kitgum on 22nd June 2014

By Hanno Brankamp, EurAsia Review, 2014-06-21

'[…] it appears impossible to believe, judging from the physical appearance of the Wahuma [Batutsi], that they can be of any other race than the semi? Shem?Hamitic of Ethiopia.' John Hanning Speke,

'[…] it appears impossible to believe, judging from the physical appearance of the Wahuma [Batutsi], that they can be of any other race than the semi? Shem?Hamitic of Ethiopia.' John Hanning Speke, (The Discovery of the Source of the Nile, 1863, Chapter IX.) [1]

'[…] I am telling you that your [Batutsi] home is in Ethiopia, that we will send you by the Nyabarongo so you can get there quickly'. Léon Mugesera (22 November, 1992, in Kabaya, Rwanda)[2]

Formulating scientific hypotheses about colonial subjects was a concomitant objective of the European conquest of Africa (Van den Bersselaar 2006). After visiting the Kingdom of Rwanda on his journey to the source of the Nile, explorer John Hanning Speke developed a hypothesis claiming that a 'higher' nomadic people had migrated into the interior of the continent and had subdued its 'primitive' inhabitants. In 1992, some 130 years later, Léon Mugesera, a staunch supporter of Rwandan President Habyarimana, revitalised this claim, inciting the country's Bahutu to commit genocide against the Batutsi who he deemed an embodiment of those nomadic invaders.

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Gwokto La'Kitgum

"Even a small dog can piss on a tall Building", Jim Hightower

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