TheRwandan Patriotic Front (RPF–Inkotanyi;French:Front patriotique rwandais,FPR)[8] is the ruling political party inRwanda.
The RPF was founded in December 1987 by RwandanTutsi exiled in Uganda because of the ethnic violence that had occurred during theRwandan Hutu Revolution in 1959–1962.[9][10] In 1990, the RPF started theRwandan Civil War in an attempt to overthrow theHutu-dominatedHabyarimana government. Later theRwandan genocide occurred, and ended on 4 July with the RPF conquest of the entire country.[11][12][13] The RPF have ruled the country since then as a de factoone-party state. RPF leaderPaul Kagame has been president of Rwanda since his election in 2000.[14]
Since 1994, RPF rule has been characterized by political repression,[15][16] relative stability, and economic growth.[17][18] Among other policies implemented by the government are the non-recognition of ethnic identities and a prohibition of "genocide ideology", including discussion of ethnic differences.[19][20] Though officially nonsectarian, as of 2021, a majority of officials in the RPF-led government are Tutsi.[21]
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.[22] Unlike other African countries, the current state of Rwanda was partly based on the pre-colonialKingdom of Rwanda, governed by aTutsi monarchy.[23][24] When the Europeancolonialists arrived in Rwanda (Germans from 1899 to 1916 and Belgians from 1916 to 1962), the country lost all political, economic, and cultural independence.[25] The colonial rulers chose Rwanda's leaders and set laws that suited their interests.
The colonial rulers employed a divide-and-conquer strategy, spreading the idea thatRwandans:
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, andBatwa.
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 inAbyssinia or modern-dayEthiopia.[26][27]
TheRwandese Alliance for National Unity (RANU) was created in December 1979 inNairobi, 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.[28] Though primarily a forum for intellectual discussion, it became militant afterMilton Obote'selection in 1980, resulting in many Tutsi refugees joiningYoweri Museveni in fighting theUgandan Bush War.[29]
Followingthe overthrow ofIdi Amin in 1979, Obote denounced Museveni'sNational Resistance Army (NRA) as being composed ofBanyarwanda. 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 theNational Resistance Army.[30][31]
After theMuseveni government was formed in 1986,Fred Rwigema, a Rwandan refugee commander, was appointed Uganda's deputy minister of defense and deputyarmy commander-in-chief, second only to Museveni in the militarychain of command for Uganda.[32]Paul Kagame was appointed acting chief of military intelligence.[33] A large number of NRA officers were Rwandan refugees 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.[34] In December 1987, RANU held its seventh congress inKampala and renamed itself theRwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). Its principles include "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".[35] Dominated by exiled Rwandan intellectuals and military officers, this new RPF was significantly stronger and more ambitious than RANU had been.[36]
On 1 October 1990, the Rwandan government led byJuvénal Habyarimana withthe 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 military wing of RPF led by Major-GeneralFred Gisa Rwigema, initiating theRwandan Civil War.[37] The RPA incursion was initially successful, despite the death ofFred Rwigema the following day.[38][39]Paul Kagame, who had been doing military studies in the United States, returned to take over the RPA. Thereafter the RPA resorted toguerrilla attacks, focusing on theByumba andRuhengeri areas, gaining control of much of the north of the country in 1992.[40] Negotiations between the RPF and the Rwandan government led to the signing of theArusha Accords in 1993, resulting in RPF personnel and other refugees being allowed to return to the country.[41][42]
On 6 April 1994, PresidentJuvénal Habyarimana'splane was shot down nearKigali International Airport, killing him andCyprien Ntaryamira, the President ofBurundi. The assassination was likely perpetrated by either Hutu extremists or the RPF.[43] The downing of the plane served as the catalyst for theRwandan genocide, which began within a few hours. Over approximately 100 days, more than one million Tutsi were killed and an estimated 150,000 to 250,000 women were raped.[44] The RPF invaded Rwanda with its military wing, fighting government forces and gradually taking control of the country. The Rwandan genocide was completely stopped whenKigali was captured by the RPF army on 4 July.[45][46]
After the RPF stopped the genocide and took control of the country, in 1994, it formed a government of headed by presidentPasteur Bizimungu. The vice president and de-facto leader of the RPF,Paul Kagame, became Minister of Defense and vice-president.[47][48][49] President Bizimungu served for six years and resigned from government in 2000. He formed his political party, the Party for Democratic Renewal, in 2001 and was arrested in 2002.[50] Having received a 15-year prison sentence for crimes including inciting ethnic violence and embezzlement, Bizimungu was released with a pardon from President Kagame in 2007.[51] In February 1998 Kagame was elected president of the RPF, replacingAlexis Kanyarengwe, and in March 2000 he became the national president.[52]
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.[59][60][61]
In July 2024, Rwanda held elections, confirmingPaul Kagame's victory with 99.18% of the votes on July 15. Opposition parties were severely repressed, facing arbitrary arrest or imprisonment, with some members being "found dead in mysterious circumstances".[62] Nonetheless, 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 againstPaul Kagame, while others were barred from participating. The Rwandan Electoral Commission stated that the other 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.[63]
Sign encouraging Rwandans to "Promote unity and reconciliation"
the RPF seesrapprochement amongRwandans as a prerequisite forsocioeconomic growth, establishment of national peace, and the restoration of dignity to every Rwandan.[64][65] According to the party, it adheres to theThird Way.[3]
^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.
^Tallon, F. (1988-04-01). "[Rwanda: population problems, development in question]".Imbonezamuryango = Famille, Santé, Développement (11):29–33.PMID12315405.
^Asiimwe, Arthur (April 6, 2007)."Rwanda's ex-president freed from prison".Reuters. RetrievedApril 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.
Behuria, Pritish (2016). "Centralising rents and dispersing power while pursuing development? Exploring the strategic uses of military firms in Rwanda".Review of African Political Economy.43 (150):630–647.doi:10.1080/03056244.2015.1128407.S2CID155791943.
Campioni, Maddalena; Noack, Patrick, eds. (2012).Rwanda Fast Forward: Social, Economic, Military and Reconciliation Prospects. Palgrave Macmillan.ISBN978-0-230-36048-8.
Chemouni, Benjamin;Mugiraneza, Assumpta (2020). "Ideology and interests in the Rwandan patriotic front: Singing the struggle in pre-genocide Rwanda".African Affairs.119 (474):115–140.doi:10.1093/afraf/adz017.
Ingelaere, Bert (2014). "What's on a peasant's mind? Experiencing RPF state reach and overreach in post-genocide Rwanda (2000–10)".Journal of Eastern African Studies.8 (2):214–230.doi:10.1080/17531055.2014.891783.S2CID144236225.
Makhunga, Lindiwe D. (2019). "Post-genocide Rwanda and discursive construction of legitimacy: contesting seemingly dichtomous political narratives".Social Dynamics.45 (3):382–394.doi:10.1080/02533952.2019.1690759.S2CID213991916.
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