{UAH} BAHIMA WRECK HAVOC IN BURUNDI
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BAHIMA WRECK HAVOC IN BURUNDI
In both Rwanda and Burundi, the Tutsi are believed to have originated from Ethiopia, the Hutu are Bantu who originated from west Africa while the minority Twa are the indigenous people. However, in Burundi the Tutsi social class is subdivided into the Banyaruguru and the Bahima. Because Burundi lies along the western rift valley, some of its provinces including the capital Bujumbura are located in the lowlands which much of the country is in the highlands. The Tutsi from the highlands are known as the Banyaruguru while those from the lowlands especially in Bururi are referred to as the Bahima. During the monarchy, the King was obliged to choose a wife from the Banyaruguru Tutsi of Muramvya and he was not supposed to pick a wife from among the Bahima. The monarchy was headed by the Baganwa who are neither Tutsi nor Hutus and that is how unlike Rwanda, in Burundi the kingdom was a uniting factor. The Bahima have a sub-class called the Basapfu who regard themselves as neither Hima nor Banyaruguru. Legend has it that at one time the King wanted to have all Bahima killed but one boy escaped and hid in the reeds (sapfu). When he was discovered, he was brought to the court and placed under the protection of the King who named him Musapfu thus his descendants came to be known as the Basapfu.
The Basapfu allied with the German colonialists to tame the kingdom which was resisting colonialism. The German colonialists instigated a rebellion against the King and he had to give in. The King and the other local leaders helped the colonialists to extract taxes and forced labour. It is during the Belgian rule that the Hutu and Tutsi were defined in both Burundi and Rwanda. However, in Burundi differences amongst the so called Tutsi thrived. Following the revolution in Rwanda in 1959 in which the Hutu overthrew the monarchy, many Rwandese Tutsi fled to Burundi. In October 1965, the mainly Hutu Police force under Antoine Serukwavu backed a Hutu politician Gervois Nyangoma in an attempted coup. Tutsi civilians were massacred but the coup was reversed by the predominantly Tutsi army led by Captain Michael Mucombero - a young Muhima army officer from Bururi who was the Minister of Defence. Attacks on Hutus intensified and since then it became anOPEN
secret that Hutu had no place in the security forces. In June 1966 Michael Mucombero became the Prime Minister under King Ntare V. In November 1966, Mucombero deposed King Ntare V, abolished the monarch, declared a republic and became its first President.
A new military regime led by Tutsi officers established a policy of discrimination against Hutu and any attempt to rebel by Hutu resulted in widespread massacre of Hutu. In 1969 following a foiled coup attempt, over 50.000 Hutu were massacred and the entire cream of Hutu in leadership positions were executed. In 1971, there was a split within Burundi's military and the resultant attempted military coup. This prompted the Hima President Mucombero to convene a military court martial that tried and executed nine senior military officers and life imprisonment of eleven others - all from the Banyaruguru Tutsi sub-class. He appointed his Bahima ethnic group from Buruli region to all top military and government positions.
In April 1972 a group of Hutu rebels organised from Tanzania attacked his southern stronghold of Bururi along the 70 km stretch of Lake Tanganyika up the the southern area of Nyanza Lac indiscriminately killing Tutsi and Hutu who did not join hands with them. These Hutu rebels declared the area as an independent Republic of Martyazo. The night before the attack, King Ntare V had been executed. Over one thousand Tutsi were massacred and the the Bahima dominated military regime exploited this development to make radical changes in governance. He appointed his most trustedFOREIGN AFFAIRS Minister Artemon Simbananiye to the Minister of Internal affairs. In May Simbananiye coordinated a systematic massacre of Hutu through the country. With the help of the extremist UPRONA youths under their umbrella organisation, Jeunesses Revolutionaires Rwagasore (JRR) they helped to provide information to the military of all Hutu students in schools and University and Hutu members of JRR for massacre. The rebellion was contained but Tutsi officers would execute their Hutu subordinates. Truckloads of Hutu students, soldiers, police officers, teachers and public servants would head for killing grounds. By end of August, over 200,000 Hutus had been killed and tens of thousands fled to neighbouring countries especially Congo and Tanzania. No educated Hutu remained in Burundi thus paving the way for the next 20 years of Tutsi hegemony.
In 1976, Col Jean Baptiste Bagaza - another Muhima from Bururi and a distant relative of Mucombero toppled Mucombero. He had been the army's Deputy Chief of Staff. Mucombero fled to Somalia from where he died in 1983. In 1987, Jean Baptiste Bagaza was overthrown by Maj Pier Buyoya another Muhima from Rutovu in Bururi. Bagaza fled to Uganda where he stayed in till he returned to Burundi a decade later. Buyoya ruled with an iron hand amidst growing Hutu political agitation that witnessed the massacre of over 20,000 Hutu in 1988 in the northern region. He spearheaded the making of a new constitution that gave way to power sharing through general election. In 1993 the first Hutu president Melchoir Ndadaye was elected but three months later he was slaughtered by Tutsi junior officers. The junior officers (including Lt Kamana) fled to Uganda and were sheltered by Museveni up to now. The slaughter of the President Ndadaye led to untold violence on both sides with renewed exile for Hutus in neighbouring countries from where they organised an armed rebellion that led to the present power sharing arrangement. In July 1996, Major Pier Buyoya with support from the Tutsi army seized powerAGAIN from the interim President Ntibatunganya amidst protests by Tutsi that the later had failed to halt Hutu attacks against Tutsi.
In Burundi this domination by Bahima from the southern province of Bururi is what gave rise to 'regionalism' which is another delicate issue in the social, economic and political life of the country.
INFORMATION IS POWER
The Basapfu allied with the German colonialists to tame the kingdom which was resisting colonialism. The German colonialists instigated a rebellion against the King and he had to give in. The King and the other local leaders helped the colonialists to extract taxes and forced labour. It is during the Belgian rule that the Hutu and Tutsi were defined in both Burundi and Rwanda. However, in Burundi differences amongst the so called Tutsi thrived. Following the revolution in Rwanda in 1959 in which the Hutu overthrew the monarchy, many Rwandese Tutsi fled to Burundi. In October 1965, the mainly Hutu Police force under Antoine Serukwavu backed a Hutu politician Gervois Nyangoma in an attempted coup. Tutsi civilians were massacred but the coup was reversed by the predominantly Tutsi army led by Captain Michael Mucombero - a young Muhima army officer from Bururi who was the Minister of Defence. Attacks on Hutus intensified and since then it became anOPEN
secret that Hutu had no place in the security forces. In June 1966 Michael Mucombero became the Prime Minister under King Ntare V. In November 1966, Mucombero deposed King Ntare V, abolished the monarch, declared a republic and became its first President.A new military regime led by Tutsi officers established a policy of discrimination against Hutu and any attempt to rebel by Hutu resulted in widespread massacre of Hutu. In 1969 following a foiled coup attempt, over 50.000 Hutu were massacred and the entire cream of Hutu in leadership positions were executed. In 1971, there was a split within Burundi's military and the resultant attempted military coup. This prompted the Hima President Mucombero to convene a military court martial that tried and executed nine senior military officers and life imprisonment of eleven others - all from the Banyaruguru Tutsi sub-class. He appointed his Bahima ethnic group from Buruli region to all top military and government positions.
In April 1972 a group of Hutu rebels organised from Tanzania attacked his southern stronghold of Bururi along the 70 km stretch of Lake Tanganyika up the the southern area of Nyanza Lac indiscriminately killing Tutsi and Hutu who did not join hands with them. These Hutu rebels declared the area as an independent Republic of Martyazo. The night before the attack, King Ntare V had been executed. Over one thousand Tutsi were massacred and the the Bahima dominated military regime exploited this development to make radical changes in governance. He appointed his most trustedFOREIGN AFFAIRS
Minister Artemon Simbananiye to the Minister of Internal affairs. In May Simbananiye coordinated a systematic massacre of Hutu through the country. With the help of the extremist UPRONA youths under their umbrella organisation, Jeunesses Revolutionaires Rwagasore (JRR) they helped to provide information to the military of all Hutu students in schools and University and Hutu members of JRR for massacre. The rebellion was contained but Tutsi officers would execute their Hutu subordinates. Truckloads of Hutu students, soldiers, police officers, teachers and public servants would head for killing grounds. By end of August, over 200,000 Hutus had been killed and tens of thousands fled to neighbouring countries especially Congo and Tanzania. No educated Hutu remained in Burundi thus paving the way for the next 20 years of Tutsi hegemony.In 1976, Col Jean Baptiste Bagaza - another Muhima from Bururi and a distant relative of Mucombero toppled Mucombero. He had been the army's Deputy Chief of Staff. Mucombero fled to Somalia from where he died in 1983. In 1987, Jean Baptiste Bagaza was overthrown by Maj Pier Buyoya another Muhima from Rutovu in Bururi. Bagaza fled to Uganda where he stayed in till he returned to Burundi a decade later. Buyoya ruled with an iron hand amidst growing Hutu political agitation that witnessed the massacre of over 20,000 Hutu in 1988 in the northern region. He spearheaded the making of a new constitution that gave way to power sharing through general election. In 1993 the first Hutu president Melchoir Ndadaye was elected but three months later he was slaughtered by Tutsi junior officers. The junior officers (including Lt Kamana) fled to Uganda and were sheltered by Museveni up to now. The slaughter of the President Ndadaye led to untold violence on both sides with renewed exile for Hutus in neighbouring countries from where they organised an armed rebellion that led to the present power sharing arrangement. In July 1996, Major Pier Buyoya with support from the Tutsi army seized powerAGAIN
from the interim President Ntibatunganya amidst protests by Tutsi that the later had failed to halt Hutu attacks against Tutsi.In Burundi this domination by Bahima from the southern province of Bururi is what gave rise to 'regionalism' which is another delicate issue in the social, economic and political life of the country.
INFORMATION IS POWER
Posted by Uganda - A Change of Guards! a
Viele GruBe
Robukui
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