$Unique_ID{bob00478}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{Rwanda
Chapter 2A.   Historical Setting}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{The Director Foreign Area Studies}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{tutsi
german
rwanda-burundi
hutu
mwami
rwanda
administration
political
belgian
system
see
pictures
see
figures
see
tables
}
$Date{1990}
$Log{See Table 1.*0047801.tab
}
Title:       Rwanda
Book:        Area Handbook for Rwanda
Author:      The Director Foreign Area Studies
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1990

Chapter 2A.   Historical Setting

     The Republic of Rwanda became an independent member of the world
community of nations as recently as 1962, but its existence as a social
and political entity can be traced back through several centuries with two
distinct periods, precolonial and colonial. In the precolonial period, dating
from the 14th or 15th century to the close of the 19th century, most of the
present area of the country was gradually brought under the centralized
control of the Tutsi monarchy and was developed into a cohesive social and
political system. During a colonial period that covered slightly more than a
half-century, the area was administered successively by Germany and Belgium.
The Belgian Administration was instituted officially in 1919 under a mandate
of the League of Nations and, after 1946, was continued under a Trusteeship
Agreement of the United Nations (UN).

     Rwanda shared its colonial history with Burundi because the two
kingdoms were administratively joined by Germany into a single territory.
Historically, they had been separate, and the two administrations were unable
to develop them into a political union.

     The single most important fact in the preindependence history was the
domination of the Hutu majority by the Tutsi minority. Two periods of
colonial rule did not basically alter the traditional structure; in fact, for
reasons of expediency, the colonial administrations served to reinforce Tutsi
control.

     The colonial era did, however, foster a gradual political, social, and
economic evolution of the Hutu. Restrictions placed on the arbitrary powers
of the monarch, the introduction of a money economy, and the access of a
growing number of Hutu to some degree of education were among the factors that
contributed to the eventual dissolution of Tutsi dominance. An awakening Hutu
political consciousness during the 1950s created a momentum that resulted in
the collapse of the Tutsi monarchy in 1959 and led to political independence
as a republic on July 1, 1962.

Before Colonialism

The Period Covered by Tradition

     Little is known of the origins of the present-day inhabitants. Since
there were no written histories before the arrival of the Europeans,
information on the pre-European period is derived from investigations of
popular traditions and the oral records of the chroniclers of the royal court.

     The population is made up of three distinct ethnic groups: Twa, Hutu,
and Tutsi (see Ethnic Groups and Languages, ch. 4). The Hutu and Tutsi came
into the mountainous regions of central Africa in widely separated phases. The
Twa, the first inhabitants, are a pygmoid people believed to be related to the
pygmies of the Congo forest. Most of them live in the northern regions where
they have existed mainly as hunters and food gatherers. In 1969 they
constituted less than 1 percent of the total population.

     Hutu origins are obscure, though it is clear that they were the
principal occupants of the region at the time of the Tutsi arrival. Hutu
life centered about small-scale agriculture, and social organization was
based on the clan, with petty kings ruling over limited domains. These kings
were called Bahinza "those who cause things to grow," and their strength was
based on the popular belief that they controlled fertility. The Bahinza were
believed to be endowed with magical powers by which they could cause rain to
fall and seeds to germinate and could protect crops from insects and cattle
from disease.

     The Tutsi are believed to have first penetrated the area in the 14th or
15th century, entering from the northeast. Nomadic pastoralists, they came
not in a sudden invasion but, rather, through the process of a slow and
largely peaceful infiltration. Although far fewer in number, the Tutsi used
their possession of cattle and their more advanced knowledge of warfare as
sources of power and prestige and, in time, achieved economic, social, and
political dominance over the Hutu. Their striking physical size and
aristocratic bearing lent credibility to their claims of being divinely
ordained to rule. Over a period of time the ownership of the land was taken
from the Hutu, becoming the property of the Tutsi king, the Mwami (see Ethnic
Groups and Languages, ch. 4).

     The relationship between the Tutsi and Hutu came to be expressed in the
form of a patron-client contract called ubuhake, an agreement by which the
Hutu obtained the use of Tutsi cattle and, in return, rendered personal and
military service to the owners of the cattle.

     This agreement probably began as a simple, small-scale exchange of a cow
for land and labor, but eventually it crystallized into a feudal-type class
system in which land, cattle, and power were in the hands of the Tutsi. Hutu
peasants bound themselves to individual Tutsi lords, giving agricultural
goods and personal services in exchange for the lord's protection and use of
his cattle. The ubuhake between the ruling Tutsi minority and the subject
Hutu majority became the dominant factor in the political and social
organization.

     The Mwami, who stood at the apex of the pyramid-like political
structure, was considered to be of divine origin and was said to be "the eye
through which God looks upon Rwanda." The royal symbol of the power of the
Mwami was the kalinga, or sacred drum, on which the genitals of vanquished
enemies were hung.

     The myth of divine origin was elaborated and preserved by the royal
chroniclers of the Mwami's court. According to this myth, three
children-Kigwa, his brother Mututsi, and their sister Nyampundu-were
born in the heavens but, by accident, fell to the earth, bringing with them
fire, iron, the forge, and cattle. Kigwa married his sister and founded the
dominant Tutsi clan of the Abanyiginya. The line of descent is traced
through a series of legendary ancestors, who are called ibimanuka, "those
fallen from the heavens," to Gihanga, whose name means "founder."

     According to Tutsi tradition, Gihanga led the migration of his people
into the area of present-day Rwanda and established them in the region
between Lake Muhazi and Lake Mugesera. The area was first divided into a
number of hereditary chieftaincies, and the Mwami was only first among equals.
Gihanga is said to have designated his son Kanyaruanda as his heir and
commanded that all other descendants submit to his rule. The fact that the
other descendants were not submissive to the chosen heir is cited in the royal
mythology as the justification for the expansion, by force, of what was at
first only a small chieftaincy, centering in the region of Lake Muhazi.

     Tradition relates that, after Gihanga, there were several other Bami
(plural of Mwami), but the expansionist period was most fully initiated
by Mwami Ruganzu I Bwimba who, according to oral historians, began his reign
in the last decade of the 15th century.

     The history from the 15th through the late 19th centuries is one of
conflict and expansion. Mwami Mibambwe I Mutabazi of the mid-16th century
is credited with centralizing the monarchy and reducing neighboring chiefs to
vassalage. During this 400-year period there were frequent conflicts between
Rwanda and Burundi, creating a historical enmity which later caused the
leaders of Rwanda and Burundi to resist all attempts by the UN to unite them
politically.

     By the late 19th century Mwami Kigeri IV had established the borders
much as they existed when the Germans arrived in 1894. The Mwami's control
was strongest in the immediate areas surrounding the capital, Nyanza, and
in areas of easy access, but his control decreased in proportion to the
distance vassal chiefs were located from the Mwami's power center. In the
Hutu-controlled areas of the northwest there was a continuing struggle for
hegemony throughout the history of the kindom. This area was never brought
under the complete control of the Mwami's government, and it is from here that
the strongest Hutu influences emanated in the decade preceding independence.

The Basis of Tutsi Rule

     The structure of the Tutsi monarchial system as it existed toward the
close of the 19th century was organized by Mwami Yuhi IV Gahindiro, who
reigned about 1830. The Mwami dominated a complex hierarchy of chiefs and
subchiefs structured into a delicate balance of power and allegiance based
on self-interest.

     Below the Mwami were the members of Council of Great Chiefs who served
as the monarch's advisers on important matters and as chiefs of the more
important of the districts into which the kingdom was divided. In each of
these districts there were two administrative chiefs, a cattle chief and a
land chief, who collected tribute in livestock or agricultural produce,
respectively. Tribute made the offices profitable, and the Mwami used it to
reward loyal service as well as to assure continued fealty on the part of
those in office.

     Districts, in turn, were divided into umusozi, or hills, under hill
chiefs. These were again divided into neighborhoods, each division having a
type of subchief. Over 95 percent of these administrative posts were held by
Tutsi.

     Critically important in the Mwami-dominated system were the military
chiefs, who were given full control over the frontier districts. Their
functions were both offensive and defensive, carrying out cattle raids on
neighboring groups, as well as protecting the frontiers. It frequently
occurred that the great chief was also named an army chief.

     Another important institution in the system was that of the biru, or
council of guardians of traditions. These honored persons advised the Mwami
of those special duties of his office which were ordained by supernatural
forces. They were entrusted with the memorization of the court rituals and
with the selection of the Mwami's successor.

     The entire structure was designed to reinforce the powers and position
of the Mwami. On the one hand, the most powerful families were in
competition with each other for royal favor and continually sought to secure
one of the powerful chieftaincies at the expense of another family; on the
other hand, each chief in the system was either directly responsible to the
monarch or was controlled by a higher chief who owed allegiance to the
monarch. Thus, the Mwami was able to reign over the entire hierarchical
system as the lord of feudal lords.

     Legitimacy of Tutsi rule was derived both from conquest and an appeal
to divine origins. According to Tutsi traditional belief, the science and
mystery of governing were reserved to the elite of their lineages. History
was seen as both predestined and cyclic in nature. As a result, the Bami
were given names which recurred in sequence; kings having similar names were
believed to have similar fortunes. A king with the name Kigeri, for example,
was expected to be victorious in war, whereas a Ruganzu was not expected to
be and thus would not be an expansionist ruler. In this way, historical
precedent was of a sacred nature to the Tutsi. Therefore, the biru, who
interpreted history and established traditions, were men of great importance
to the system.

European Exploration and Annexation

     Remoteness and difficulty of access caused the area of Rwanda-Burundi to
be one of the last regions of Africa to be penetrated by Europeans. The
perimeters of the area had been traversed by the British explorers Sir
Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke as early as 1855 in their search for
the source of the Nile, but they did not enter Rwanda. In 1861 Speke again
passed along the northeastern frontier on his journey to Lake Victoria.
Henry Morton Stanley, who came into this same frontier region in 1876, did
not penetrate into Rwanda, but started a long controversy between European
powers when he claimed to have acquired treaties with several chiefs to a
"Mont Mfumbiro" in northwestern Rwanda.

     The Conference of Berlin in 1885 designated the Kingdoms of Rwanda and
Burundi as a German sphere of interest, although it was not until 9 years
after the conference that the first European traversed Rwanda. He was the
German explorer Count von G#otzen, who later became governor of German East
Africa. Before his explorations, the European political debates concerning
the frontiers of the several spheres of interest in Africa were merely
conjectural. Lack of accurate geographical information, vague boundaries,
Stanley's claims on behalf of Great Britain to an unknown "Mount Mfumbiro,"
and overlapping territorial claims formed the basis for a border controversy
among Belgium, Germany, and Great Britain that lasted for over a decade.

     The area of Rwanda-Burundi was located at the strategic junction of
three empires. Belgium's King Leopold II, who held personal dominion over
the Congo Free State, wanted the region for its access to Lake Victoria and
as a link to the east coast of Africa. Germany desired the area as a part of
the formation of a great Mittelafrika, a German central African empire. The
British saw the territory as a necessary link in the proposed Cape-to-Cairo
railroad, uniting British possessions in the north with those in the south.

     During the first decade of the 20th century there was extensive European
diplomatic maneuvering in regard to the exact location of the borders of the
African territories. The death of King Leopold II in 1909 cleared the way
for a 1910 agreement whereby representatives of the three powers settled on
the natural frontiers as the boundaries between their possessions, and the
territories known today as Rwanda and Burundi officially became possessions
of Germany.

     During the period of the European diplomatic struggle over colonial
boundaries, there were other important forces at work in the region of
central Africa. As early as 1898 the Roman Catholic order of the
Missionaries of Africa (White Fathers) founded missions in Burundi and,
in 1900, the first stations were founded in Rwanda. Protestant missions
established their first posts in Rwanda in 1907 and 1908. With their emphasis
on education and implicit egalitarianism, the missions had a significant
influence on the history of Rwanda during the colonial period (see Religion,
ch. 5).

The Colonial Period

German Rule

     Although the Council of Berlin designated Rwanda-Burundi as a German
sphere of interest in 1885, it was not until the 1890s that the German
Government extended its authority in East Africa to cover the region of
Rwanda-Burundi. In 1896 a military station was founded in Usumbura in Burundi
and, by 1907, a post was established at Kigali in Rwanda with Richard Kandt,
a prominent explorer and scientist, as the first Resident.

     The Germans, in general, used the existing structure of the Mwami's
government. This indirect rule, in fact, characterized the German
Administration, and such a system was considered mutually advantageous to
both the Germans and the Mwami. Because of the limited size of the German
presence in Rwanda, they ruled through the Mwami, and the Mwami, in turn,
utilized German force to strengthen his own position. It was during the
German period that the Mwami came closer to absolute rule over his entire
territory than at any other time.

     The most significant aspects of German Administration were the punitive
expeditions carried out against rebellious Hutu chiefs in the northern region,
who had long proved difficult for the Mwami to control, a phenomenon which
continued throughout both the German and Belgian periods. In 1912 Germany
sent an expedition into this northern region to supress a revolutionary
movement and to punish the murderers of a Catholic missionary. The village of
the rebellious chief was attacked and burned and the captured leaders
executed. The separatist-minded Hutu leaders of the north were forced to
submit to German-backed Tutsi authority.

     The German Administration made serious attempts at economic planning,
but was able to initiate few of its plans before the outbreak of World War I
in 1914. Rwanda-Burundi's economic potential was extremely limited compared
with the diamonds, gold, and copper which had been discovered in some of the
Belgian and British territories. Cattle were numerous but of limited
economic potential, and the agricultural productivity barely supported the
population.

     In 1913 Richard Kandt, as the German Resident, declared that Rwanda and
Burundi must be turned into coffee lands, and shortly thereafter the German
Administration initiated the development of coffee as a cash crop. The
project, which the Belgians later developed more extensively, introduced the
money economy and had far-reaching influence. In time the Hutu came to look
upon money as a substitute for cattle as a symbol of wealth and, to the extent
that this occurred, Tutsi domination was correspondingly weakened.

     Early in 1914 the colonial administration instituted a general head tax.
Mwami Musinga opposed this move, concerned that the Hutu, if taxed, might look
upon the Germans as their protectors and no longer feel indentured to their
Tutsi lords. This fear turned out to be justified, and Tutsi domination was
further weakened.

     Attempts were made by the German Administration to complete a census,
but the difficulty of communications and the limited number of colonial
officials made a precise head count impossible. Instead, each chief was
required to report the number of huts in his area. The resulting estimate,
considered reasonably accurate, was, that in 1911, the African population
was approximately 2 million (see Population, ch. 4).

     German colonial policy toward the missions provided for mission education
of the Tutsi to equip them for a variety of tasks in the administration. Tutsi
rule was looked upon as preferential, and the intention was to develop a
sizable number of Tutsi civil servants to work under German direction. The
missions, however, were permitted to educate a few Hutu, and this became
another significant factor in the eventual Hutu emancipation. Through
education, the Hutu secured access to new positions and to a status which had
previously been denied them. The religious teaching that all men are equal
before God was a revolutionary concept in a society with such a rigid class
structure.

     The German Administration was carried out by a handful of Europeans; the
total European population of both Rwanda and Burundi in 1914 was
approximately 190, of whom some 130 were missionaries. The remaining 60
included a few traders and about 40 soldiers. In 1914 there were reportedly
only five civilian officials in Rwanda.

     Some senior German officials viewed World War I as the opportunity to
create a great German empire in central Africa by linking the territories of
German East Africa to both the Cameroons and South West Africa. Such high
ambitions proved illusory, however, for the German forces in East Africa were
far inferior to those of her enemies, particularly in the territories of
Rwanda-Burundi.

     Belgian strength in the area was placed at 7,700 troops, 52 pieces of
artillery, and 52 machineguns. In January 1916 German military forces were
cited at a total of 1,407 African troops, 166 Germans, 3 cannon, and 12
machineguns in the entire territory of Rwanda-Burundi. In April one-third of
this force was withdrawn, so that there was only token German resistance to
Belgian occupation of Rwanda-Burundi. German forces were withdrawn from
Rwanda-Burundi without a major battle with the advancing Belgian troops. By
May 21, 1916, the area was under Belgian control.

     Belgian plans for the conquered territories involved their use as a pawn
in postwar negotiations. Belgium's hopes were for a three-way exchange:
Belgium would cede Rwanda-Burundi to Great Britain; the British would cede a
portion of German East Africa to Portugal; and the Portuguese would cede the
southern bank of the lower Congo River to be joined to the Congo colony.
Belgium's first task, however, was to have its claims to the possession of
the conquered territories recognized by the four-power allied council, which
consisted of the United States, Great Britain, France, and Italy.

     The negotiations were long, and the Portuguese were not amenable to the
proposed exchange but, on August 7, 1919, the Council of Four finally
recognized Belgium's claims to Rwanda-Burundi. The United States was more
hesitant in approving the claims than were the other three members of the
council, withholding its vote for 2 weeks.

     On August 23, 1923, with the decision of the Council of Four and
subsequent approval by the League of Nations, Rwanda-Burundi became a
mandated territory of the League under the supervision of Belgium.

Belgian Administration Under the Mandate

     Under the Mandate the responsibilities of the Belgian Government were
to maintain peace, order, and good administration; to work toward the
emancipation of all slaves; to protect the African population from fraud,
arms traffic, and the sale of alcoholic beverages; and to promote both
social progress and moral well-being. In 1924 the Belgian Parliament formally
accepted responsibility for Rwanda-Burundi under the conditions established
by the League.

     Belgium's administration of the territories followed a pattern similar
to that employed by Germany. Confronted with a multitude of problems such as
famine, endemic diseases, difficulties of communication, and a scattered
population, the Belgians decided to use the political system of the Tutsi
aristocracy who still dominated the political-social-economic structure. The
colonial administration turned to the existing Tutsi organization in order to
be able to concentrate administrative personnel on the more pressing social
and economic problems.

     The Belgians concluded, however, that, although it was expedient to
respect and utilize the traditional political organization, the abuses of the
system would have to be eliminated. As early as 1917 the occupying Belgian
military forces had placed limits on the arbitrary power of the Mwami and, in
order to fulfill the requirements of the League's Mandate, other changes also
became necessary.

     In 1923 the Administration issued the first of a series of ordinances
greatly modifying the system of ubuhake and eliminating the payment of
tribute to anyone other than the Mwami. In 1926 a number of changes were
made in the administrative structure, and the three offices of land chief,
cattle chief, and army chief were replaced by a single authority.

     Mwami Musinga proved an obstacle to Belgian development plans; thus, the
administration deposed him in 1931, sending him into exile in the Congo, where
he remained until his death in 1940. Ignoring tradition, the Belgians bypassed
the biru in the selection of the new Mwami, naming the 18-year-old son of
Musinga, Charles Mutara III Rudahigwa, as the new monarch.

     Although the terms of the Mandate required that Rwanda-Burundi be
maintained as a separate and distinct territory, the League permitted Belgium
to administer it as a part of the Congo colony. A law joining Rwanda-Burundi
in an administrative union with the Congo was passed by the Belgian
Parliament in August 1925. A separate budget was maintained for each colony,
but the administrations, customs, and monetary systems were combined into one.

     The major colonial policy decisions were made in Brussels in the
Ministry of Colonies. The chain of command then passed to the Governor
General in Leopoldville and on to the Vice Governor General in Usumbura
(Bujumbura), the administrative center for Rwanda-Burundi. Kigali was
subordinate to Usumbura in the administrative system, and Rwanda was
considered, both in administration and in development, an appendage to
Burundi. Many in Brussels considered the territory of Rwanda-Burundi merely
another province of the Belgian Congo.

     Efforts to make Rwanda-Burundi economically self-sufficient were
concentrated on the development of agriculture. After a severe famine
in 1928-29 necessitated a large-scale emergency relief program, the
Administration tried to ensure the production of a food surplus in good
harvest years and to encourage the production of cash crops. The cultivation
of coffee as a cash crop, initiated during the German Administration was
developed more fully. For the most part, the production of coffee was a
European-guided enterprise, with the African farmers being assigned
production quotas (see Agriculture, ch. 9).

     Government educational policy during the early years of this period
concentrated on training the sons of Tutsi chiefs and subchiefs. The intent
was to enable them to fill positions in the administration and the civil
service. For the remainder of the population, emphasis was placed on mass
primary education and was carried out mainly through subsidizing the Catholic
mission schools. A 1930 report indicated a total of slightly more than
44,000 primary school students attending 552 schools (see Education, ch. 7).

     During the period of the Mandate, Belgian policy was focused on goals of
gradual social and economic progress. In giving emphasis to these ends, the
administration declared that

. . . the Government should endeavor to maintain and consolidate traditional
cadre composed of the Tutsi ruling class, because of its important qualities,
its undeniable intellectual superiority and its ruling potential. However, the
mentality of this class must gradually alter. A way must be sought gradually
to modify its conception of authority, which must be changed from one of
domination exercised solely for the benefit of its holders, to one of a
more humane power to be exercised in the interests of the people.

Belgian Administration Under the United Nations

     With the formation of the UN, Rwanda-Burundi was made a Trust Territory,
and the period of the Mandate was ended. On December 3, 1946, the General
Assembly approved the Trusteeship Agreement and made Rwanda-Burundi the charge
of Belgium. The Belgian Parliament did not ratify the Trusteeship Agreement
until April 1949.

     The UN was more explicit than the League in delineating the
responsibilities of the Administering Authority. A significant addition to
the Trusteeship Agreement, which was not found in the Mandate, involved the
political development of the inhabitants. The agreement stated that Belgium
was to

. . . promote the development of free political institutions suited to
Rwanda-Burundi. To this end the Administrating Authority shall assure to the
inhabitants of Rwanda-Burundi an increasing share in the administration and
services . . . of the territory; it shall further such participation of the
inhabitants in the representative organs of the people as may be appropriate
to the particular conditions of the Territory . . . the Administering
Authority shall take all measures conducive to the political advancement of
the people of Rwanda-Burundi in accordance with Article 76 (b) of the Charter
of the United Nations.

     The UN's Trusteeship Council sent a number of Visiting Missions to the
Trust Territory to review and report on the implementation of the agreement.
The first mission visited Rwanda-Burundi in 1948, a second in 1951, and
others followed at 3-year intervals. In essence, the views of the first two
missions were that social and political advances were proceeding at too slow
a pace. They further insisted that the administrative union with the Congo
should not be allowed to impede the political development of Rwanda-Burundi.

     In response to the conclusions of the 1948 and 1951 Visiting Missions,
Belgium implemented a series of reforms in the economic structure, in
education, and in the administrative organization. In 1952 proposals for
economic and social development were embodied in the Ten-Year Development
Plan. In the field of education, important curriculum changes were made in
which studies based on African languages and culture were replaced by a
program very similar to that practiced in Belgium. The proposed political
reforms involved some significant changes in the organization of indigenous
political structures and instituted a limited degree of representative
government.

     The Ten-Year Development Plan was based on extensive research and
analysis of the existing situation with regard to natural resources,
population pressures, labor, economic development, health, education, and
projects of the infrastructure. It was considered necessary to concentrate
first on these areas of economic and social advancement before it would be
possible to bring about significant political progress.

     Although it was the Administration's intention to give precedence to
social and economic development, the Decree of July 14, 1952, represented an
attempt to broaden participation in Government. By the law of 1943 a limited
system of councils had been established to advise the Mwami and the great
chiefs in matters of budget and taxation. The 1952 Decree broadened the
functions of these councils and allowed for some degree of elected
representation. Through a complicated system, part of the membership of each
council was chosen by the members of the council below it.

     At the bottom of the scale each subchief compiled a list of notables,
". . . taking into account the preferences of the inhabitants." Those named on
this list then elected, from among their own number, five to nine members of
the "Sub-Chiefdom Advisory Councils." The next higher level was the "Chiefdom
Council," composed of the presiding chief; five to nine subchiefs, chosen by
their peers; and an equal number of notables, elected by their peers from the
membership of the Sub-Chiefdom Councils. This process was repeated again at
the level of the Territorial Council, with the notables elected from among
members of the Chiefdom Councils. The High Council of State, presided over by
the Mwami, was made up of appointed members and notables elected by and from
the membership of the Territorial Councils. The implementation of this system
in 1953 resulted in the preponderance of Tutsi representation on the councils
of Rwanda-Burundi (see table 1).

     While the 1954 Visiting Mission was in Rwanda-Burundi, the High Council
of Rwanda decided upon the gradual suppression of ubuhake. In implementing
this decision over the next 4 years, a series of acts brought about the
redistribution of ownership of some 200,000 head of cattle. Although the
Administration looked upon this as a sign of progress, the Hutu leadership
maintained that giving over cattle to the Hutu peasants did little good
because the control of the pasturelands was left in the hands of Tutsi lords.
The abolition of ubuhake, however, had an important psychological impact on
the Hutu, who believed that, if the Tutsi control of cattle could be broken,
so could the Tutsi control of the land.

     A further change in the system of electing members of the advisory
councils was made in 1956 when the governor of Rwanda-Burundi decided to
interpret the Decree of 1952 to allow the notables of the subchiefdom
electoral colleges to be chosen by secret ballot of all adult males. This
resulted in some Hutu gains on the lower councils. The gains were made mainly
in the northern districts of Ruhengeri and Gisenyi, regions which the Mwami's
Government had never been able to control fully without direct German or
Belgian aid.

[See Table 1.: Members of the Rwanda-Burundi Councils, 1953]

     A number of Hutu electors, however, whether for reasons of tradition or
as a result of intimidation, voted for Tutsi so that Tutsi losses on the lower
councils were offset by gains on the High Council of State. (see table 2.)