Abstract
The narrative on the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda has become remarkable in recent years for airbrushing the responsibility of those at its heart from the tragedy. The figure of President Juvenal Habyarimana, whose 21-year rule, along with the unofficial network based around his wife and family, the Akazu, has been largely marginalised. Yet to understand April 1994 requires a far longer-term understanding. Those responsible had grown their power, influence and ambition for decades inside every part of Rwandan society after seizing power in their coup of 1973; they had established personal and highly lucrative bonds with European and North American countries, financial institutions and the Vatican, all of whom variously assisted with financial, political, diplomatic and military support from 1973 into 1994. This chapter seeks to outline how Akazu built its powerbase, influence and ambition in the two decades before 1994 and the failure of its international backers to respond to repeated warning signs of a tragedy foretold.
Highlights
The official Independence Day celebrations that got underway on Sunday 1 July 1973 came as Rwanda teetered on the edge of an expected coup
Kayibanda’s fate and that of his regime was sealed by his failure to validate the vaulting ambitions of the northern officer corps in his army. He underestimated the danger posed by General Juvenal Habyarimana, his defence minister and head of the army and Habyarimana’s close friends and allies from the Bushiru region in the north of the country: highly ambitious young officers like Major Aloys Nsekalije, Lieutenant Colonel Alexis Kanyarengwe, Major Sabin Benda, Major Laurent Serubuga, Major Laurent Simba, Major Théoneste Bagosora and Captain Elie Sagatwa
Four days after Kayibanda’s final speech to the nation given at the Independence Day event, his 11-year rule came to an abrupt end
Summary
The official Independence Day celebrations that got underway on Sunday 1 July 1973 came as Rwanda teetered on the edge of an expected coup. Eleven years after independence the one party regime of President Grégoire Kayibanda was imploding. He underestimated the danger posed by General Juvenal Habyarimana, his defence minister and head of the army and Habyarimana’s close friends and allies from the Bushiru region in the north of the country: highly ambitious young officers like Major Aloys Nsekalije, Lieutenant Colonel Alexis Kanyarengwe, Major Sabin Benda, Major Laurent Serubuga, Major Laurent Simba, Major Théoneste Bagosora and Captain Elie Sagatwa.
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