Dominique Mbonyumutwa

Dominique Mbonyumutwa (born January 1921 in Mwendo ; † July 26, 1986 in Ghent , Belgium ) was the provisional president of Rwanda in 1961 .

Life

Mbonyumutwa belonged to the majority of the Hutu in Rwanda and was chief ( Hutu-Souschef ) of a district. On November 1, 1959, after going to church, he was attacked by eight young Tutsi . Rumors that he was killed in the process led to attacks by Hutu on the Tutsi minority from November 3, 1959. The events came to be known as "All Saints' Day in Rwanda" ( La Toussaint Rwandaise ). The Tutsi who attacked Mbonyumutwa are said to have been supporters of the UNAR party, which was close to the king, also a Tutsi. The Belgian trust administration was able to contain the unrest after a few days by using its Congolese Force Publique . The death toll in the events was estimated at around 300.

Mbonyumutwa became the first provisional president of the country still under Belgian administration on January 28, 1961. The republic proclaimed in the so-called “Guitarama coup” was recognized by Belgium shortly afterwards. In a referendum on September 25, 1961, 79.8% of voters voted for the abolition of the monarchy and confirmed the republic. On October 26, 1961 he was succeeded by Grégoire Kayibanda , under whom the country became independent on July 1, 1962. Like Mbonyumutwa, Kayibanda belonged to the dominant Hutu party, the MDR-PARMEHUTU, founded on October 18, 1959.

Even if the tensions between Hutu and Tutsi go back a long way, the attack on Mbonyumutwa on All Saints' Day in 1959 has been mentioned in almost every representation of the modern conflict as the starting point for civil wars and massacres since then.