The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF–Inkotanyi; French: Front patriotique rwandais, FPR)[2] is the ruling political party in Rwanda.
The RPF was founded in December 1987 by Rwandan Tutsi in exile in Uganda because of the ethnic violence that had occurred during the Rwandan Hutu Revolution in 1959–1962.[3][4] In 1990, the RPF started the Rwandan Civil War in an attempt to overthrow the government, which was dominated by Hutu. Later on, the Rwandan genocide occurred that ended on 4 July with the RPF conquest of the entire country.[5][6][7] The RPF have ruled the country since then as a one-party state, and its current leader, Paul Kagame, became the president of Rwanda in 2000, and remains in office.[8]
Since 1994, RPF rule has been characterized by political repression,[9][10] relative stability, and economic growth.[11][12] Among other policies implemented by the government are the non-recognition of ethnic identities and a wide-ranging prohibition on what the government calls "genocide ideology", including discussion of ethnic differences.[13][14] Despite an official nonsectarian identity, as of 2021, a large majority of officials in the RPF-led government are Tutsi.[15]
History
Before RPF
Rwanda is one of the most densely populated countries in Africa, with over 14 million people living in a comparatively small territory of 26,338 square kilometers.[16] Unlike other African countries, the current state of Rwanda was partly based on the pre-colonial Kingdom of Rwanda, governed by a Tutsi monarchy.[17][18] When the European colonialists arrived in Rwanda (Germans from 1899 to 1916 and Belgians from 1916 to 1962), the country lost all political, economic, and cultural independence.[19] The colonial rulers chose Rwanda's leaders and set laws in a way that suited their interests.
The colonial rulers employed the divide-and-conquer strategy, spreading the idea that Rwandans:
Came from different places
Did not enter the nation as a group
Lacked equal intelligence
Shouldn't work in the same fields
Should not receive the same education
This strategy increased divisions between Tutsi, Hutu, and Batwa.
In the early 1950s, Rwandans fought for their independence alongside other African countries. Since Tutsis made up the majority of those who fought for Rwanda's independence, the Belgians started to propagate the idea that Tutsis were outsiders who had originated in Abyssinia or modern-day Ethiopia.[20][21]
Rwandese Alliance for National Unity
The Rwandese Alliance for National Unity (RANU) was created in December 1979 in Nairobi, Kenya, by young Rwandan Tutsi refugee intellectuals, most of whom had grown up in Uganda. The RANU political organization was established to discuss a possible return to Rwanda.[22] Though primarily a forum for intellectual discussion, it became militant after Milton Obote's election in 1980, resulting in many Tutsi refugees joining Yoweri Museveni in fighting the Ugandan Bush War.[23]
Following the overthrow of Idi Amin in 1979, Obote denounced Museveni's National Resistance Army (NRA) as composed of Banyarwanda. Subsequently, a failed attempt to force all Rwandan refugees into refugee camps in February 1982 resulted in a massive purge, driving 40,000 refugees back into Rwanda. Rwanda declared that they recognized only 4,000 of these as Rwandan nationals, while Uganda declared that they would take back only 1,000. The remaining 35,000 were left in a legal limbo along the border region for years, and many refugee youths left to join the National Resistance Army.[24][25]
RPF
After the Museveni government was formed in 1986, Fred Rwigema, a Rwandan refugee commander, was appointed Uganda's deputy minister of defense and deputy army commander-in-chief, second only to Museveni in the military chain of command for Uganda.[26]Paul Kagame was appointed acting chief of military intelligence.[27] Rwandan refugees formed a large number of NRA officers because they had joined the rebellion early and thus had accumulated more experience. The contributions of the Rwandans in the Ugandan Bush War were immediately recognized by the new government. Six months after taking power, Museveni reversed the decades-old legal regime and declared that Rwandans who had resided in Uganda would be entitled to citizenship after 10 years.[28] In December 1987, RANU held its seventh congress in Kampala and renamed itself the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) stands for Unity, Sovereignty and Security, Economy, Democratic Leadership, Fighting Corruption, Eliminating All Causes of Refugee Status, International Relations, Social Welfare, and Fighting Genocide and Its Ideology;[29] the new RPF, dominated by Rwandan intellectuals who were in exile from different countries and military officers, was far more strong and ambitious than the original RANU.[30]
Rwandan Civil War
On 1 October 1990, the Rwandan government led by Juvénal Habyarimana with the National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development (MRND) party which was known to rule with pro-Hutu policies, was invaded by the Rwanda Patriotic Army (RPA), the wing army force of RPF led by Major-General Fred Gisa Rwigema, the starting of the Rwandan Civil War.[31] The RPA incursion was initially successful, despite the death of Fred Rwigema from a bullet on 2 October.[32][33]Paul Kagame, who had been doing military studies in the United States, returned to take over the RPA. Thereafter the RPA resorted to guerrilla attacks, focusing on the Byumba and Ruhengeri areas, and gained control of much of the north of the country in 1992.[34] Eventually, negotiations between the RPF and the Rwandan government led to the signing of the Arusha Accords in 1993, resulting in RPF personnel and other refugees being allowed to return to the country.[35][36]
1994 genocide in Rwanda
On 6 April 1994, President Juvénal Habyarimana's plane was shot down near Kigali International Airport, killing him and Cyprien Ntaryamira, the President of Burundi. Responsibility for the assassination has not been conclusively established; it is thought that either Hutu extremists or the RPF carried it out.[37] The shooting down of the plane served as the catalyst for the Rwandan genocide which began within a few hours. Over approximately 100 days, more than one million Tutsi people, were killed and an estimated 150,000 to 250,000 women were raped.
[38] The RPF with its wing army fought the government and took control of the country. The Rwandan genocide was completely stopped when Kigali was captured by the RPF wing army on 4 July.[39][40]
After the RPF stopped the genocide and took control of the country, in 1994, it formed a government of national unity headed by a president, Pasteur Bizimungu. Paul Kagame became Minister of Defense and vice-president.[41] President Bizimungu served for six years and resigned from government in 2000, after forming his political party, he was arrested in 2002.[42] Sentenced to 15 years in prison, he was released with a pardon from President Kagame in 2007.[43] In February 1998 Kagame was elected president of the RPF, replacing Alexis Kanyarengwe, and in March 2000 he became the national president.[44]
In the post-genocide era, RPF as a ruling party established Rwanda's national unity and democratic government that continues to challenge itself foremost as a right movement to strive for national unity, democracy, and development.[49] To achieve these since 2000, RPF chairman and president of Rwanda Kagame, has been elected three times to rule Rwanda consecutively. Under his leadership, the Rwandan government has invented and practiced unique national programs in ensuring self-reliance including Community work (Umuganda) and Gacaca courts.[50]
Leadership
Current leaders
Paul Kagame is the current Chairman of the RPF after being re-elected with other members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) during the 16th party's national congress that met on 2 April 2023. The elected committee is responsible for the day-to-day management of the party activities and will serve a five-year term.[51][52][53]
In July 2024, Rwanda held elections, confirming Paul Kagame's victory with 99.18% of the votes on July 15. This result reflects the trust many Rwandan citizens still have in him, especially since he played a crucial role in stopping the Rwanda Genocide in 1994. However, the ruling party saw its representation in parliament decrease, securing 37 of 53 directly elected seats, down from 40. Only two candidates were allowed to run against Paul Kagame, while others were barred from participating. The Rwandan Electoral Commission stated that these candidates lacked the necessary documents to run in the 2024 election. The Democratic Green Party retained two seats, with the remainder going to the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF).[54]
According to the RPF, it still holds the belief that there should be a fundamental shift. It firmly felt that rapprochement among Rwandans was a prerequisite for socioeconomic growth, the establishment of national peace, and the restoration of dignity to every Rwandan.[55][56]
^Stroh, Alexander (2010). "Electoral rules of the authoritarian game: undemocratic effects of proportional representation in Rwanda". Journal of Eastern African Studies. 4 (1): 1–19. doi:10.1080/17531050903550066. S2CID154910536.
^Asiimwe, Arthur (April 6, 2007). "Rwanda's ex-president freed from prison". Reuters. Retrieved April 29, 2021. An ethnic Hutu, he [Bizimungu] was appointed president when the ruling Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) took power after the 1994 genocide, in which extremists from the Hutu majority butchered 800,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus. President Kagame, whose Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Army ended the hundred days of slaughter, was then vice-president, but in reality had more power than his superior.
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