Study of Rwanda

Austin Maness, Quintin Robinson

University of Memphis

Sport Culture and Global Perspective

Caroline Sawyer
December 6, 2011

The Republic of Rwanda is a small country located near the center of Africa which is
10,169 square miles, which is about one fourth the size of the state of Tennessee. The capital city
of Rwanda is Kigali. The national colors for Rwanda are yellow, green and blue. The population
was estimated at 10.7 million in 2010. The country is surrounded by the Democratic Republic of
the Congo, Uganda, Tanzania, and Burundi.(state.gov) The country has a wide variety of terrain,
just some types of terrain include high mountains and deep valleys with volcanoes and large
lakes in other places Because of the wide variety of terrain in Rwanda the average temperature
may not fully represent the atmosphere there but the average temperature registers at 75 degrees
Fahrenheit. Some major landmarks in the country include Lake Kivu in the northwest and
volcano Karisimbi to the north located in the Virunga Mountains. The wide variety of terrain sets
up opportunities for a variety of wildlife to thrive in the ecosystem that varies so much in such a
small area. One of the prime tourist attractions when going to Rwanda is to see one of those
animals which is the Gorilla. Rwandas history is just as adverse as the landscape on which it
resides.
Rwandas inhabitants range from Twa, a Pygmy people who make up only 1% of the
population today, and two separate ethnic groups by the name of the Hutu and Tutsi. Although
the two groups are deemed separate, scholars have stated that they share many cultural
characteristics, speak the same language, and even have been known to engage in marital bonds
with one another. Most differences between the two ethnic groups were occupational rather than
ethnic. The Hutu were more of an agricultural people with appearances described as more of a
short and square body frame, whereas the Tutsi were a cattle-owning people and often described
as tall and thin, but still impossible to distinguish for a fact. Rwanda has never had a stable
existence, repeated violence in Rwanda and neighboring country Burundi has increased the

ethnic diversity as well as the many nationalism changes. European explorers first visited
Rwanda in 1854, but became a part of German East Africa in 1890, and during World War I, it
was occupied by Belgian troops. Rwanda was at this time under the name of Ruanda-Urundi
because of a Belgian League of Nations mandate. This mandate was then made a UN trust
territory in 1946. The country continued its power sharing between ethnic groups and nations
throughout the early 1960s. The Belgian Congo achieved independence in 1960, and RwandaUrundi was administered as part of that colony. Tutsi would dominate power for the first couple
years but a civil war fueled by ethnic tensions led most of the Tutsi away. So when Rwanda
finally became the independent nation of Rwanda on July 1, 1962, the Hutu people ruled under
their president Gregoire Kayibanda. Ethnic unrest was still prevalent thought the years of postindependence. Tutsi invaded Rwanda again in 1963 but were repelled and massacred by the
Hutu, while the rest of the Tutsis fled the nation. During the 70s Rwanda was officially was
named a single party state under The National Revolutionary Movement for Development. With
this movement also came economic growth, and population growth. This growth continued
throughout the 80s and went through more setbacks and political issues but it continues to
remain a country none the less.
It seems to me as though Rwanda was set up to fail from the very beginning. In the time
that the Belgian or German forces were occupying Rwanda they attempted to create large
cultural and other differences between the two social groups, the Hutu and the Tutsi.(state.gov)
This attempt to cause friction between the two tribes was very successful as the two groups grew
to hate each other and eventually led to a civil war of sorts between the two groups. Not only
were they told by the occupying countries that they should be fighting each other but they were
also told by their own government or their own media in many cases that they should be fighting

for the group that they believe in or are tied to by relatives. This is one of the major factors that
led to the massive genocide in Rwanda which may have turned out to be one of the worst in the
history of the world. In my opinion this did not receive enough attention or media coverage. I
was young when the genocide occurred but even researching it I noticed that no country in power
stepped in to help or even took any action in order to prevent the mass murder of over 900,000
people.(BBCNews)
Rwanda hasnt recovered from the overall destruction of the genocide. War and political
battles not only caused separation but took the lives of many of Rwandas citizens. Diseases
quickly spread through refugee camps where people were housed and also caused sickness and
death. Urbanization and the overall advancement towards a more urban city type of environment
has been a slow process. Most of Rwanda is rural and many of the families live in large
compounds surrounded by trees because there isnt much new development taking place in
Rwanda. Rwandas poor social and economic state is based on the genocide. During the
genocide many people fled out of fear and never returned. Government officials have been
working hard on encouraging the natives of this country regarding their safety and quality of life
in Rwanda. Poverty continues to remain an issue. Hospitals and medicines are available for
Rwandan citizens but many of the people rely on home remedies and herbal treatments that have
been passed on through families and communities for generations. The Rwandan residents that
chose to stay or returned after the genocide mostly depend on farming and crops to provide for
their families. Coffee is the countrys main export crop. Warehouse and other industry jobs are
almost nonexistent in Rwanda. In more recent years gold and diamonds have been discovered
and traded. Gold miners spend long hours digging for gold and diamonds and receive little pay
for what the gold or diamond is worth.

Rwandas economy has always struggled over the years mostly due to constant turmoil
between the nation, genocide, and its constant change of leadership and political structure.
Coffee and Tea are Rwandas main exports and the country has some oil and gas
reserves.(state.gov) Another large source of income among exports comes from animal hides and
in some cases even diamonds whether they are acquired legally and ethically or in many cases
not. Although there is tourism potential, until recent years Rwanda was not able to produce any
profit from tourists because of the political and ethnic unrest. Although Rwanda has always
struggled it remains 139th in the World GNP rankings with a GNP of $1.89bn. The per capita
GDP for Rwanda in 2010 was roughly 540 dollars.(state.gov) This puts them in the lower group
of countries in the world in per capita GDP as well. Their currency is called a Rwandan Franc.
According to XE.com the currency converter states that one United States Dollar or USD is
equal to 599.8 Rwandan Francs otherwise known as RWF. This was a staggering figure to me
considering how much the value of the U.S. dollar has dropped in recent history with inflation
and other factors. To put this in perspective a United States citizen making eight dollars per hour
could make 540 dollars, which it takes them a year to make, in only 67.5 hours. Factoring in that
in most cases they will work many more hours than the average American and work in worse
conditions and do harder labor it is incredibly difficult to imagine how they can make so little. It
is estimated by state.gov that 85 percent of the people in Rwanda do agricultural work instead of
having what we consider as a normal job.(state.gov) Because of the stress that these jobs seem to
put on the people of Rwanda the average life span is only estimated at 49.5 also according to
state.gov. Even though their economy isnt doing well it is on a steady improvement. It seems to
be trending upwards, this is supported by the fact that their GDP has grown 7.9 percent in the
past year.(state.gov) The last unemployment statistic I could find was from 2005 and states that

only two percent of the population was unemployed. The fact that the unemployment rate is low
makes the per capita GDP number even more staggering than it already was.
The government of Rwanda is set up as a republic. Their constitution was set into effect
on May 26th 2003. The government is divided up into three branches, the Legislative, the
Executive and the Judicial. The Executive branch is two members, the president and the prime
minister. The Legislative branch is made up of eighty chamber of deputies and twenty-six senate
members. Lastly the Judicial branch includes the Supreme Court, the high courts of the republic
the provincial courts, the district courts, and mediation comities. There are ten political parties in
contention for election in Rwanda. These ten are as follows: Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF),
which leads a coalition that includes the Centrist [formerly Christian] Democratic Party (PDC),
the Rwandan Socialist Party (PSR), the Ideal [formerly Islamic] Democratic Party (PDI), the
Prosperity and Solidarity Party (PSP), the Concord Progressive Party (PPC), and the Democratic
Popular Union (UPDR). Other parties include the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the Liberal
Party (PL), and the Social Party Imberakuri (PS-Imberakuri). All of this information was
collected from the profile on Rwanda form state.gov.
Rwanda has been the home of ethnic tension for many years. Many of Rwandas citizens
live in constant fear since the genocide which claimed the lives of many people from this
country. Acts of hatred and violence began before the genocide. The two main groups from
Rwanda that were constantly at odds were the Tutsi and the Hutus. Rwandan politics was headed
by the Tutsi, a strong group of individuals that made up the minority in Rwanda. The majority of
the people of Rwanda come from the group of people known as the Hutus. Both groups shared
similar beliefs and traditions, but wanted to have power and be in control. Hatred created the
overall basis of the genocide, which claimed the life of up to one million people and caused

others to flee to other places out of fear. This sense of power and control has shaped the overall
political and social structure of Rwanda. The poor economic status and revitalization of Rwanda
since the genocide still remains an issue today. Political structures and the way the country is run
in general have been unstable. Maintaining a sense of security inside and outside of the
government has been the main issue that the political structure has been an issue. Individuals
who disagree with government structures have no problem showing how they feel through acts
of violence such as the assassinations of government officials. Education and the quality of
education is also an issue. Many of the citizens of Rwanda dont receive or even seek a quality
education and rely on agricultural production as their main source of income. The overall
economy of Rwanda depends largely on foreign aid and the amount of export goods they are able
to produce, creating income for the people of Rwanda. Instability in political and economic
structure make advancement seems almost impossible. The Republic government of Rwanda
realizes the fact that there is a need for change and is beginning to focus on the high poverty
levels and education improvement in an effort to boost the overall well-being for Rwanda.
Rwanda is one of many countries in Africa and across the world that has more than one official
language. Officially they have three, French, English and Kinyarwanda, as well as Swahili which
is an unofficial language of the country according to BBC news. With a multi-lingual country
like this it is very common for different regions to take up different languages almost like the
way different areas of America have slight to moderate accent changes. The majority of the
printed press uses English but some of the smaller presses use Kinyarwanda. Radio broadcasts
generally have all four languages and television depends on the area of the country that you are
in.

Religion in Rwanda was interesting to me with a strong emphasis on Christianity, in

particular Roman Catholicism. Approximately 65 percent of the population practices Roman
Catholicism.(BBCNews) Other religions prevalent in the country include a solid number of other
protestant citizens registering in at roughly nine percent.(state.gov) The country is also about one
percent Muslim. However the other large groups of people that select a religion choose local or
traditional beliefs as what they believed in. This is not rare as many countries have a group of
indigenous people that will stick with their long time beliefs in order to retain cultural
significance. An example of this in the United States would be Native Americans that have
retained their beliefs from their various tribes. Ultimately one has to wonder the effectiveness
and depth of these religions in a country thats population was capable of such a terrible
genocide and other conflicts during their civil war.
Culture is obviously one of the most important aspects when discussing a country
unfortunately Rwandas culture is stained with a history of war and poverty. We have already
discussed in detail the division between the two main groups of population has caused many
internal problems in the country and has divided the nation with the groups differences. The
majority of the two groups are Hutus; however the Tutsi minority has traditionally been the more
dominant group. In the midst of one of these conflicts in 1994 BBC news reports that over
800,000 people from both groups were killed, some estimate that the number is closer to
925,000. The fighting has slowly gotten less severe however there has been some debate about
recent murders that could be considered genocide if its proven that the groups took part in the
killings. It is also my opinion that some of the recent murders and tragedies are staged by the
government or the leaders of the extremists in the two groups. All the struggles between the two
groups as well as wars with other countries have kept the poverty levels in Rwanda very low

which has in turn hurt the economy and given the people more to be upset about. One of the
more interesting things culturally I found in my research was the National Museum of Rwanda at
Butare. From the information I read about the museum on their web page and the virtual tour that
you can take, the museum appeared to cover many of the main important features of Rwandan
culture and history. I also felt the fact that they offered a virtual tour was a great way to gain
exposure and increase interest in tourists to venture to Rwanda.
Rwanda offers many sports in one way or another a list of those that are played in
Rwanda include: Futbol, basketball, volleyball, tennis, golf, rugby, cricket, mountain biking,
swimming, and long distance running. Of those it appears that the most popular were futbol,
rugby, cricket and long distance running. However for tourists mountain biking appeared to be a
popular attraction and a good way for tourists to see more of the country without having to pay
for a tour guide and a vehicle to transport them around in. Futbol in Rwanda is huge to the
population in several ways including the impact that it has economically as well as the
opportunity for players and fans to take a breath and take their mind off all the negative things
surrounding Rwanda history in the last couple of decades. Not many top players from Rwanda
stay to play in Rwanda due to the draw form other leagues like the Barclays Premier league in
England as well as leagues in Spain, Italy, France and other European countries. These countries
offer better pay, better benefits and more exposure to the top players in the world.
Rwanda has a national futbol team but I was unable to find any of their scores however
their under seventeen team recent played against England Uruguay and Canada and came away
with two close losses to England and Uruguay and one tie against Canada. Once they players get
older and are ineligible to play on the under seventeen team if they are good enough they will
normally find a premier league to play in somewhere in Europe but if they are not quite skilled

enough to play in one of the larger leagues they normally play in a local league. Rwanda does
however have its own futbol league called the Rwandan Premier League. There are twelve teams
in the league these teams include: APR, ATRACO, Etincelles, Rayon Sport, Kiyovu, Police,
Electrogaz, Mukura, AS Kigali, Marines, Amagaju, Musanze. The list is in order of record
success in their last season. APR was the best team with a record of seventeen wins three losses
and one tie. While Musanze was the worst team finishing with a record of two wins six losses
and thirteen ties. Because the best players to come out of Rwanda dont generally stay in
Rwanda to play out their professional futbol careers, therefore I looked up two of the more
successful players to come out of Rwanda in the recent years. The two I chose are Olivier
Kerekezi and Henri Munyaneza. Kerekezi is an attacker or a striker for APR in Rwanda which as
I said is odd for a player of his caliber to stay in Rwanda instead of attempting to find a larger
more publicized league to play in. Kerekezi has scored twelve career goals and played 4205
minutes in his career. Munyaneza is also an attacker or a striker that plays for the White Stare
Woluwe FC in Belgium and has scored eleven career goals as well as playing 2719 minutes in
his career. All futbol related information was taken from Africansoccerunion.com.
Rwanda has not had success at the Olympics. They have never participated in the winter
Olympics which is not rare for a central African country. They also havent had as much success
as they would like in the summer Olympics. They have participated in seven summer Olympics
and have never won a gold, silver, or bronze medal. This is rare for a country to have never won
a medal in any Olympic event in seven tries at the Olympics. They have however won a
Paralympic bronze medal for wheelchair racing. They would like to turn around their recent
disappointments in the Olympics in the upcoming games but they will need a good performance
considering the few events that they participate in. Along the theme of international sports they

do have international teams in futbol, volleyball, basketball, cricket and rugby. From what I can
tell the most popular of these obviously after futbol appears to be cricket and rugby.

Reference Page
(2011, April 16). A brief history of Rwanda. Retrieved from Geneva International Model
United Nations website: http://www.gimun.org/en/2009/committees/hsc/rwanda
Kuperman, Alan J. "Rwanda in Retrospect." Foriegn Affairs 79.1 (2000): 94-118. Web. 4
Oct. 2011. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/20049616>.
"Rwanda Profile." News Africa. BBC News, 5 Aug. 2011. Web. 3 Oct. 2011.
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14093240>.
Rwanda. (2011). Bureau of African Affairs. Web. 6 Dec. 2011
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2861.htm
Rwandan Premier League. (2010). Web. 4 Dec. 2011
http://www.africansoccerunion.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1
09836&Itemid=200223