In the previous article in this serialized narrative, we realized how the first republic was exhausted by many years of infighting within PARMEHUTU party, which facilitated the coup d’etat of July 5, 1973.
In the present piece, the narrative is about the coup against President Gregoire Kayibanda, which marked the beginning of the 2nd republic. We will witness in the coming articles, we will look at how the 2nd republic, led by President Juvenal Habyarimana, performed and how it ended.
The Second Republic (1973-1994)
On July 5, 1973, the high command of the National Guard issued a national declaration to the population. It went as follows: "Mr Kayibanda is discharged of his duties as President of the Republic; Major General Juvénal Habyarimana will assume the constitutional prerogative of head of state; The government has been forced to retire and is temporarily replaced by a ‘committee for peace and national unity’ composed of 11 officers and presided over by Major General J. Habyarimana, until total re-establishment of peace in the country; The national assembly is dissolved; Political activities are forbidden throughout the entire territory of the Republic; The various organs of the party are dissolved; Rights and liberties are guaranteed by the November 24 constitution, except 16 articles which have been suspended.”
This communiqué was signed by Maj Gen Habyarimana, Lt Col Kanyarengwe, Maj Nsekalije, Maj Benda, Maj Ruhashya, Maj Gahimano, Maj Munyandekwe, Maj Serubuga, Maj Buregeya, Maj Ntibitura and Maj Simba. That team, called "Comrades of the July 5,” was composed of members who hailed from Gisenyi and Ruhengeri, apart from Maj Aloys Simba from Gikongoro and Maj Jean Nepomuscène Munyandekwe. That composition portrayed the existence of a north-south conflict, especially in the army. The above conflict was the underlying factor for the coup d’état.
On the occasion of that coup d’état inspired by sectarianism, members of the committee justified their initiative as follows: "The higher authorities of the National Guard realized that internal peace was compromised and that national unity was seriously threatened.” It was for that reason that the coup was described as a "moral revolution.”
National unity was a matter of concern in several speeches. However, regional considerations were emphasised and the unity between Hutu and Tutsi was significantly ignored. To many Tutsis, Kayibanda and PARMEHUTU proved absolutely evil. To them, Habyarimana’s speech was full of hope. None thought he would inherit the Kayibanda and PARMEHUTU’s ideology and the policies associated with it.
Creation and institutionalization of MRND
Two years after the coup, President Habyarimana created the "Mouvement Révolutionnaire National pour le Development (MRND). It was set up to fill the vacuum created by the dissolution of PARMEHUTU government on July 5, 1975.
MRND was structured in the image of the "Movement Populaire de la Revolution” (MPR) of President Mobutu of Zaire. Habyarimana justified the creation of MRND in these terms: "(...) We have decided to create a popular movement which is authentically revolutionary and democratic that brings together all national forces in the country without exclusion i.e. without any discrimination in terms of sex, religion, ethnicity, origin, profession or social condition.”
According to the MRND statute voted on June 29, 1983 by the National Congress, Article 1 stipulates that: "there is only one political movement called Mouvement Révolutionaire National pour le Développement (MRND). Article 2 defines goals to be pursued as follows: "to bring together the entire Rwandese people with the aim of organizing them politically in the best way possible, to unite, stimulate and intensify efforts of the Rwandese considering the view of achieving development in the context of peace and unity in accordance with the program set up by the movement’s manifesto.
In the next narratives, as we progress with the series, details about Habyarimana’s regime and policies will be revealed.