Who are the rightful owners of Rutshuru?..An extract from a conversation by one Congolese to a known news website

 What about Congolese Hutu? For several months, North Kivu, epicenter of ethnic conflicts and base of many wars that have bloodied the DRC for more than two decades, has started to burn again. With relentless fervor. It all started, in November 2015, with the Buleusa massacre, hitherto a peaceful city in the north of Walikale territory, in the Ikobo groupement, when Nande attacked the Hutu, killing several of them and setting fire to their houses, pushing the survivors to flee to Miriki, to take refuge in a camp for the displaced. The number of Hutu victims is not known to date, but sources speak of more than a hundred people killed. It is in Miriki that, in January 2016, 18 Nande people will be killed. Sources blamed the FDLR, which strongly denied. For many Nande, these Rwandan militiamen wanted to avenge their Congolese Hutu cousins. This region is scoured by foreign militias: as much as there are FDLR, Rwandan Hutus, there are also the ADF-NALU, Ugandan Nande known for their numerous massacres in Beni territory. Some political leaders took the opportunity to blow sulfur on the flames in order to increase their intensity tenfold. In Congolese society where street speeches reign supreme, as on the web, now in turmoil, the nagging question comes back: but, above all, are there Hutus, or even – those who go with them – Congolese Tutsis of origin? This is a reflection of a neutral and impartial observer, a journalist who has spent many years investigating the conflicts of the East, both among ordinary citizens, actors and witnesses of history, and in Belgium , a former colonizer of the Congo, in order to better understand the conflicts in the east of the country and in the countries of the region, and to propose solutions to the problems that are tearing the social fabric apart.

Mathematical postulate In the conflicts of Kivu, the tendency is often very strong to question the nationality of the adversary, if by misfortune the latter is a speaker of Kinyarwanda. Admittedly, in their last reaction, the leaders of Kyaghanda, the Nande mutual, insisted on the fact that they had never denied the existence of the Congolese Hutu, but it is nonetheless true that many other Congolese think the opposite. The speech of denial of the Hutu and Tutsi as components of the Congolese nation is not the fact of the Congolese originating from distant provinces of the center and the West, long abused by a speech of exclusion coming from the eastern hills of the country , but it has its roots in seemingly respectable people. The case, to cite some of the most recent examples, of Mukumbulhe Kahindo, who introduces himself as "Head of the College of Bami (customary chiefs) Nande", and who, in a letter sent on November 20, 2016 to the Minister of Decentralization, with extension to all that the country counts as authorities, denies the Hutu Congolese citizenship and requires the attachment of their entities to the Nande chiefdoms. But these kinds of assertions are also made by intellectuals, like my friend Léonard Kambere Muhindo, who published two books on the subject (“After the Banyamulenge, Here are the Banyabwisha in the Kivus. The Ethnic Map of Congo Belgian in 1959", Editions YIRA, Kinshasa, and "Look at the Conflicts of Nationalities in the Congo; Case of the Hutu, Tutsi (Banyamulenge)", 1st Part, Legal Aspect, Ed. YIRA, Kinshasa, 1998).

Rehashed a thousand times, on TV as in the streets, on news sites or those of online debates, this rhetoric is now posed as a mathematical postulate that needs no demonstration. "There is neither Hutu nor Congolese Tutsi", repeat in chorus many Congolese on the web, at the risk of blowing up social networks. But what is it exactly? First, according to their history, there are two categories of Hutu in the DRC: the natives of Rutshuru and the descendants of the "transplanted" of Masisi. THE NATIVES OF RUTSHURU From the outset, it is important to emphasize that the eastern borders of the Congo were defined, not in 1885 as some say, but rather by the convention of May 14, 1910, a convention that finally came into force from June 14, 1911. It should be noted that European explorers arrived quite late in this region of Kivu. The least you can do is ask them the question of who they found on the spot in the territories they visited, and their written testimonies will edify us. Evidences First evidence: in the same way that the province of central Kongo today was part of the former Kongo kingdom, today divided between Angola, the DRC and Congo-Brazzaville, the former Rwanda saw its territory divided between the Belgian Congo (Rutshuru, Nyiragongo, Goma), the British colony of Uganda (Bufumbira, in present-day Kigezi district), and the German protectorate of Rwanda (present-day Rwanda). As proof, many testimonies attest to the fact that the local chiefs of this part of the Congo (not only the Banyarwanda, but even certain Hunde chiefs) paid tribute to the king of Rwanda. Quoting DUBUISSON (DUBUISSON, J., 1935: 62-64), Professor Joseph Nzabandora points out that, “in 1911, the date of the materialization in North Kivu of the borders of the Congo with Rwanda and Uganda in accordance with the tripartite agreements ( Germany, England, Belgium) from Brussels on May 10, 1910, the Catholic missionaries of Rugari were still witnesses of the caravans which transported the tributes to Rwanda. These tributes were made up of a wide variety of products, including various provisions, masses and iron ore, new and worn hoes, spears, knives, bracelets made of raffia vegetable fibers (amatega or ibikaka), honey , ivory tusks, small and large cattle, symbolically loaded wild animal skins, etc. They were transported to Nyanza (Butare) in Rwanda via Bufumbira (south-west Uganda) where found the King's steward". This fact is also reported by E. Hubert, who worked in the 1930s and 1940s for Virunga National Park. He writes, to this effect, that the payment of tribute was extended to the Hunde clan communities located west of Bwisha, that is to say west of the Volcanoes region and south of Lake Edward. Indeed, the information collected in June 1937 from the customary chief Komakoma, "born around 1890 and a descendant of the former Wahunde chiefs", showed that "the populations who occupied the plain south of Lake Edward and the upper valley of the Rwindi during the creation of the Albert National Park owed tribute to the King of Rwanda until the World War of 1914" (HUBERT, E., "The fauna of the large mammals of the plain of Rwindi-Rutshuru (Lac Edouard). Its evolution since its total protection, Exploration of the Albert National Park”, Institute of National Parks of the Belgian Congo, Brussels, 1947.).

Nothing to be ashamed of :

There is nothing to be ashamed of as long as the diplomatic genius of Leopold II has won territories for our country. Moreover, this does not give any right to the current Republic of Rwanda on any part of the Congolese territory, in accordance with the principle of intangibility of borders inherited from colonization adopted by the African Union during the independence of African countries. However, gaining territories implies having also gained the populations that live there. Especially since the Nande, a sub-group of the Bayira people, are themselves from present-day Uganda, a country where some of the members of their ethnic group, the Bakonjo, live in the districts of Kasese kabarole and Bundibugyo. Many of their brothers are known in Uganda: Defense Minister Crispus Walter Kiyonga; the former Chief of Staff of the Ugandan People's Defense Forces (UPDF, the Ugandan army), General James Kazini; MPs Joseph Matte Sibalinghana, Jams Mbahimba and Yokasi Bwambale Bihande; or the talented artist David Bwambale. Second evidence: the identity of the populations found on the spot leaves no room for doubt. Father SMULDERS, Superior of the Mission Tongres Sainte Marie de Rugari, testified in 1911 about the group of Rugari, one of the seven current groups of the territory of Rutshuru: “The populations contain Watutsi and Wahutu. The Watutsi, that is to say the Nobles, are in the minority and do not play the great political role that they play in Rwanda. They are shepherds and owners of cattle. I know two who have 100 to 150 head of cattle (…). The Wahutu also have a few cows that they have the Watutsi take to pasture. They are by no means slaves of the latter and do not pay them tribute. They are content to provide them with food in exchange for milk and butter because the Mututsi do not cultivate”. He also testified for the Gisigari group: “The Kisigale where we have fixed our residence is located in the region of the volcanoes which border it to the North-East and South-East. It touches the Lutari (lava plain) and reaches the Kibumba in the southwest. Politically the country is governed by Lulenga who himself is only a deputy of Ntamohanga, medalist Head of State living in the North-East. The country is very beautiful because of the crops that cover all the hills. To the north as well as to the east and west, the cultivated lands extend to the lava, not a single inch of land which does not claim its owner. The surroundings of Mikeno (extinct volcano) serve as pastures for herds”. (SMULDERS, "Report on the foundation of the Tongres Sainte Marie missionary station in Kivu addressed to His Grandeur Mgr. ROELENS, Apostolic Vicar of Upper Congo. Copy sent to D.G. E. KERVYN by Father O. ULRIX by letter dated Antwerp November 20, 1911". File M.601: Religious Missions. African Archives of Brussels. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Belgium.). Lieutenant A. SPILTOIR, Chief of the Rutshuru Sector, detailed the fundamental identity characteristic of the inhabitants of Bwisha in January 1908 by writing the following: “In a study on the manners of the Bahutu (report of August 1907), I said that the territory is divided, from the political point of view, into chiefdoms, sub-chiefdoms, etc. This information was correct, but the main thing was missing. The country is actually divided into "clans" (mulyango in native) and this division is the only important one. A clan can constitute a large chiefdom. There can also be several clans in a chiefdom. This division into clans is the only one to consider for the different points of view, and it is the one, and the only one, that should be taken into account in the delimitation of indigenous lands as in the impositions.for the natives having always been grouped in this way, it would be a great blow to their customs to act otherwise. In the previous report I said that all property belongs to the Chief. It is a mistake. In reality, the goods belong to the whole clan” (SPILTOIR, A. “Investigation of customs in execution of the decree of June 3, 1906: Territory of Ruzizi-Kivu, Zone of Rutshuru – Beni, Sector of Rutshuru, Race Muhutu, the January 10, 1908". File A.I. (1370). African Archives of Brussels. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Belgium). Dense population After three years of investigation (1904-1906) on the mores of the inhabitants of the Busanza and Jomba groups, located further north in the region of the volcanoes, Lieutenant G.VERVLOET wrote: “…the population (…) is much denser among the Bahutu immediately surrounding the volcanoes. While the latter are more directly under the (political) influence of the Watuzi, they are grouped into fairly large villages. The fields extend very far along the sides of the mountains (…). Beans, peas and castor are stored in large cylindrical baskets 1m50 high by 70 to 80 cm wide, sorghum and unshelled finger millet stored in larger granaries and finally sweet potatoes (VERVLOET, G., "At the sources of the Nile. In the region of volcanoes, Lake Albert-Edouard and Ruwenzori. Rutshuru-Beni area, Belgian Congo", in Bulletin of the Royal Belgian Geographical Society, vol. 34, n °4, 1910, pp. 119). Shortly after, Commander BASTIAN, first Commissioner of the Rusizi-Kivu Territory, pleaded for Belgium to do everything possible to keep this area which risked going, not to Rwanda as many people say out of ignorance. , but to neighboring Uganda. He thus testified on April 23, 1911 that “this region is very populated by former subjects of the Sultan of Rwanda and at their head is Chief Tchicilongo. Cattle are in this region very abundant and cared for by the Watuzi, while the Wahutu dependent on them engage in intensive agriculture on the slopes and at the base of the mountains. In short, a very rich country which it seems to me advantageous to seek to preserve" (Commander BASTIAN, "Letter to the Minister of the Colonies dated Mtoto ya Mongo on April 23, 1911. File AE 346 (281): Settlement of borders with the United Kingdom". African Archives of Brussels. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Belgium).Natives without question It is clear that the Hutu and Tutsi are indeed the natives of Bwisha, in Rutshuru territory. All the testimonies above do indeed describe an indigenous people, with its well-integrated social organization with clans including both Hutu, Tutsi and Twa (as was, moreover, the case throughout pre-colonial Rwanda) , its production process and its economic complementarity, its various leaders, some Hutu and other Tutsi, etc. At the end of the territorial reform of 1920, all the traditional chiefdoms mentioned above were united in the great chiefdom of Bwisha under the leadership of Mwami Daniel NDEZE RUGABO II, a Hutu who governed all his subjects in unity and brotherhood until his death in 1980. This great chiefdom is still led to this day by his direct descendants. This being the case, and although this is of no importance to attest to their autochthony, one can, nevertheless, just for reasons of general culture, ask the question of whether, before their installation in this region, their ancestors came from Rwanda. Here again, the historical truth will surprise more than one. Indeed, it is rather Rwandans, those of the North-West region, in Muti, who were from the current Rutshuru. Pole Institute teaches us that “the lineage formed by the Bakora locates its origin in Gikore in the Ndorwa region located on the border between Rwanda and Uganda, northeast of the Virunga volcanoes. Some families of this lineage emigrated from Gikore to Bwito in Rusthuru, therefore to North Kivu. From there they then populated the localities located in the North-West of Rwanda on the northern shores of Lake Kivu: Muti near the crater of Bunyogwe, Lumbati and Kanama” (Pole Institute, Cross-reviews n°12, “murderous identities, facing to the challenges posed by our psychological and ideological walls”, Goma, 2004). But it is the oldest testimonies of one of the best connoisseurs of the region which confirms it: the members of this lineage "dispersed throughout the region of the volcanoes had also taken the habit of meeting annually, at a day fixed in advance, in Muti. We contributed to the purchase of five or six goats, one of which was offered as a sacrifice to the ancestors of the clan at the meeting place. The others were taken to Bwito in the Belgian Congo and had their throats cut in the Balihira village from where those who came to settle in Bugoyi in the North-West of Rwanda had left” (PAGES, A., “Un kingdom hamite au center of Africa”, Royal Belgian Colonial Institute (I.R.C.B.), Brussels, 1933. P. 668). So, Rwandans come to adore the place of departure of their ancestors in the Congo. So, Rwandans have their historical origin in the Congo and not the other way around!

THE TRANSPLANTS OF MASISI Already, before colonization, the wars of conquest of the Rwandan sovereign Rabugiri had left clusters of his subjects on the territory of Masisi. One of the first explorers of the region, Dr. Richard KANDT, a German explorer who had visited this place in 1899, writes the following: “Here several Watussi visited us, they are kind and simple men but not as handsome or as elegant than those of Urundi and Rwanda, it shows that they have to work. Indeed, here, they are not the sovereigns of the country, but live in isolated villages as cattle breeders next to the first inhabitants who are farmers. (…) In the East, the Watussi live in large numbers as kings and lords (…). In the west, they live isolated or in greater numbers, as in Kischari, but in any case, not as sovereigns” (KANDT, R., “Kaput Nil”, T1, Berlin, 1921, p. 199). Status of Congolese citizens Then, in order to develop the fertile territory of Masisi on the one hand, and to decongest the overpopulated Rwanda on the other hand, the Belgian colonial authority decided to transfer the Rwandan populations to the Congo. It is within this framework that the Banyarwanda Immigration Mission (MIB) was created in 1934 (Congo Fraternité et Paix, “Le Manifeste de la paix en RD Congo”, Kinshasa, 2002). In 1938, the colonial power set up the commission n°128/T.F.R.1 of November 02, which appointed Mr. Etienne Declerk, Deputy Public Prosecutor at the Court of First Instance in Bukavu, as Delegate in charge of negotiating an ACT OF TRANSFER, for the benefit of the Colony, of the rights that the Bahunde customary authorities possessed on a plot of 349.1 km2. Mr. Declerk served as counsel for the Bahunde chiefs. Negotiations were completed in 1939, and on November 13 of that year, the “Indigenous Rights Cession Act” was signed between the colony represented by Mr. Amédée Van Cleemput, Assistant to the Territory Administrator of Masisi, and Bahunde customary authorities represented by Mr. Declerk and Bahunde Grand Chief, Mr. André Kalinda. The price of the territory thus ceded was 35,000 F at the time (Kabuya Lumuna Sando, “Conflits à l’Est du Zaïre”, Kinshasa, 1997, P.P 80-81). From 1930 to 1954, Belgium transferred to Masisi thousands of Banyarwanda Hutus, mostly Hutu, but also Tutsi, who today represent more than 80% of the population of this territory. By carrying out this transfer, Belgium, colonial guardianship of the Belgian Congo and Rwanda-Urundi, granted the new arrivals the status of citizens of the Belgian Congo. Despite several uproars, the DRC has recognized their Congolese nationality, in accordance with nationality law when there is a succession of states. This reality has been observed many times throughout history. For example: the one and a half million South African Indians are the descendants of Indian “indentured labourers” brought from India by the British colonial power to another British colony, South Africa. No mentally balanced South African would ever dare to question their membership in the Rainbow Nation.