In November, 92 years ago, the Belgian colonists finally decided they wouldn’t work well with the then King of Rwanda, Yuhi V Musinga.
They exiled him to Kamembe, which was part of the Rwandan kingdom, but far away from the palace, and later to Moba, DR Congo, due to his growing influence, which was a threat.
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Many Rwandans know that the reason behind the decision to banish their king- a royal scandal at the time - was that he refused to get baptized, but this was a mere tip of the iceberg, at least according to Dantès Singiza, a Historian in the Africa Museum of Belgium.
According to Singiza, from the day the Belgian colonists arrived at the palace in Nyanza, in 1916, Musinga ordered his army, Indugaruga, to welcome them warmly and to remove their uniform- dating back to the German colonists- to wear Imikenyero- Rwandan traditional attire. He even told the locals to behave properly when they arrived.
"He thought that WWI had nothing to do with Rwanda and Rwandans. He was willing to work well with the Belgians, just like he had worked well with the Germans. However, the Belgians were already biased against Rwandans because they had fought against them in the war. They were biased against King Musinga,” Singiza said.
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He also said that because of this bias, one of the first Belgian colonial officials when they came to Rwanda, Commander Van Aerde, arrested Musinga. He was advised against this scandal by his superiors, and was immediately fired and replaced.
Nevertheless, things got worse for Musinga. He would compromise on a few parts of the colonialism deal, but to him, some things were non-negotiable, and yes, baptism was a no-go for him, to begin with.
"The benefits he thought he would reap from them included development of infrastructure, education, and technology. But then again, he was worried that they would contaminate the authentic Rwandan culture and religion,” Singiza said.
Although not a fan of colonialism, Musinga did not actively resist it, because he knew that things would only get worse for him and he could possibly be killed. It would have been a taboo if his blood was shed on Rwandan soil.
Welcoming the Belgians was coming from the advice that was given to his father, King Kigeli IV Rwabugiri, who was warned by King Rumanyika of Karagwe (now Tanzania) to not rebel in any way.
"Rumanyika had advised Rwabugiri that it was not good to fight white people. He told him that whoever fights them was removed from the throne and murdered in cold blood. Musinga had decided to resist, but not openly,” Singiza noted.
The Belgians, on the other hand, immediately set some ground rules as soon as they arrived in Rwanda, and this would lead to a disagreement that would see never-heard of changes in the kingdom, such as the king being exiled, people- other than the ‘Abiru’ installing a king, and more.
In just a few months, both the Belgians and Musinga knew well that they wouldn’t work together.
Below are the key disagreements in the colonial deal:
Political power
From 1923, Musinga was no longer allowed to appoint or dismiss a chief. He was supposed to first ask the Belgians. "Sometimes the colonist was 20 years old, and Musinga was then in his 40’s,” Singiza said.
Judicial power
Musinga, who was the provider of justice then, was warned to never hold unsupervised trials in his courts again, but to travel from the palace to the Belgian residence, where at least one Belgian administrator would be there to oversee.
"Usually, trials would be held in front of the king’s Palace in Nyanza. This change angered many Rwandans because then, their king had no more power to serve justice,” Singiza said.
Furthermore, the king was the only person who commanded that someone be executed or redeemed, after public trials at his court. It was the first prerogative the Belgians scrapped off Musinga, within just one year of their arrival.
Economic power
The colonists imposed a ban on the offerings from the people to the king. On top of this, they introduced the franc so that they could start demanding tax.
"The tax was not given to Musinga or any Rwandan system to manage. It was for the Belgians. Musinga could also no longer gift people (kugabira). He was being paid a salary like any other worker,” Singiza explained.
He added that according to different poems composed at the time, the king was the "giver”, and somewhat close to God or a god himself, but then he was being employed by the colonists.
Social and spiritual power
The Belgian colonists, who were staunch Catholics, commanded the king to let Rwandans join other religions, and then banned all the rituals in the Rwandan traditional religion that were key.
They ordered that Musinga would get baptized into the Roman Catholic church to set an example for the rest of the population, but he refused. He swore to never betray the traditional religion and God of Rwanda.
Musinga was then deposed by the colonists after a 35-year rule, and 15 years after they forced themselves on Rwanda. He was exiled to Kamembe, which was in Rwanda, but in 1941, he was exiled to Moba, DR Congo, where he died.
The Belgians then replaced Musinga with his son, Mutara III Rudahigwa, who would serve the kingdom selflessly and heroically, despite being installed by those who didn’t have the right to do so.