Declaration 2: Publication and Manuscripts
2.2 Rwanda in the colonial and post-colonial periods
2.2.1 The practice of umuganda during the colonial era
According to Midgley et al (1986: 17), the Belgians created a climate in which community development was to take shape by relying on the local tradition of community work in achieving these development goals. The twofold mandate to civilize whilst exploiting the use of free forced labour, under the pretext that it was an indigenous institution, facilitated the evolution of early forms of community development (1986: 18-19).The pre-colonial forms of mutual help, ubudehe and umuganda, were transformed into a form of compulsory communal work which was imposed upon any native belonging to a particular local community (IRDP, 2005). Although this practice continued during the colonial period, with the arrival of missionaries and colonialism, the mutual relationship became highly exploitative and the term used was not umuganda but described as forced labour, uburetwa.
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From uburetwa being performed in some parts of the country, the policy became adopted officially by the colonial administration in the 1940s (IRDP, 2005). Thereafter every family had to provide compulsory communal work for 60 days of the year. This was divided into several blocks of twelve days per month and was meant for the construction of roads and schools, working in coffee and tea plantations and in the mines in the Congo (IRDP, 2005). According to Newbury (1991: 142) and Pottier (2006: 513), it was only adult males who were obliged to carry out uburetwa. Lemarchand (1970: 22) adds that under the Belgian administration, uburetwa was set by the local chiefs to require two or even three days labour out of six. This meant that people had little time to work for their own survival. Pottier (2002: 9) notes that uburetwa undermined the security of the majority and made survival more difficult.
Under Belgian rule in the 1930s, coffee and tea were introduced as two cash crops which eventually dominated the economy and remain a key export crop for Rwanda today (IRDP 2005). The colonial administration forced chiefs to become coffee entrepreneurs. Besides coffee and tea, cassava and sweet potatoes were also introduced as both cash and subsistence crops (Mukarubuga, 2006: 5-7).
Although cultivating cassava and sweet potatoes, for example, was beneficial in fighting famine, people felt they were being forced into uburetwa. In particular, they were obliged to cultivate food and finally the obligations extended to afforestation and fighting soil-erosion (IRDP, 2005:
27). Failure to complete cultivation on time resulted in punishment, usually corporal punishment.14 The punishment was both very painful and shameful and was dreaded by all Rwandans, as the victim had to undress in public and be flogged naked (Mukarubuga, 2006: 5).
Those who were taken to work in mines in the Congo and on coffee and tea plantations were uprooted from their families and lived in labour camps. Some were designated to work on constructing roads and building schools, administrative blocks and churches in those areas (2006:5-6).
14 Corporal punishment consisted of 8 strokes of ikiboko: ‘a long cylindrical piece of dried hippopotamus hide’
(see Mukarubuga 2006).
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According to Des Forges (1999: 34), under the old system of multiple officials, power-holders ordinarily limited demands on subordinates, knowing that those who felt unreasonably exploited could seek protection from rivals or could move elsewhere. But the Belgians made it far harder for the weak to escape repressive officials; not only did they eliminate the multiple hierarchies but they also restricted changes in residence from one region to another and they prohibited new settlement in the forests (Des Forges, 1999: 35). The one avenue of escape that was still possible was emigration, especially to Uganda and Zaire. Thousands took that route beginning in the 1920s. But those who preferred not to leave Rwanda had little choice but to submit to increased exploitation.
The migration of many Rwandans to Uganda escaping forced labour, the recruitment of men for mining in the Congo and the inability to have enough time to work for their own survival, meant more food shortages in the country. Then due to the food shortages, community labour intensified. Researchers such as Mamdani (2001: 144) and Newbury (1995: 13) believe that the fall of coffee prices in this period contributed to further attention being paid to more forced work for more production. People did not have time to care for their own lives and, in consequence, Rwanda expressed an enormous food crisis (Newbery, 1995: 13).
Although the colonial administration exposed Rwanda to the global system and contributed to the promotion of the economy, many negative consequences arose, as has been discussed. In brief:
a) Rwandans were divided by the colonial rulers not only according to assumed ethnic groups but into two racial groups, where some were labelled native and others foreign.
b) Much time (three days out of six) was spent doing compulsory community work, suggesting that people had little time to fend for themselves.
c) Compulsory communal work caused emigration, especially to Uganda and Zaire.
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d) Hatred between social groups became well established as forced labour affected mainly on one particular social group (see Mamdani 2001, Des Forges, 1999, Newbury, 1998).
e) A culture of obedience to leaders developed, which did not allow the local people to think and take decisions for themselves.
Even though forced labour caused hardship, at some point it became an effective system for fighting famine. However, uburetwa was not owned by the people and, in reality, poverty continued to mount with little access to medical facilities, shelter and education (IRDP, 2005:
28).
All public work projects were compulsory and peasants were often doubtful of their social utility, more so as time went by (Mamdani, 2001: 147). Furthermore, with the formation of these development projects, Hutu were compelled to perform more manual labour (Pottier, 2006: 513). The imposition of heavy labour on Hutus, supervised by mostly Tutsi chiefs, slowly damaged the earlier cohesion that had existed among Banya-Rwanda (Pottier, 2006: 514).
With this experience, Baines (2003: 481 - 482) argues that the mass movement towards independence, beginning in the 1950s, challenged Tutsi privilege and colonial power. Hutus sought retributive policies by striving for access to economic, political and social power. By the 1950s, local institutions like the patron-client system had been gradually phased out and policies were emerging with different understandings of social and economic development.
Subsequently, umuganda became recognized by the people to amount to little more than a slogan, which brought few tangible benefits to them and held no future for their children (Midgley, 1986: 17).
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