In our previous article, “The 67-year struggle for congolese Tutsi citizenship must end,” we explored how the Kinyarwanda-speaking community’s electoral victories in Eastern DR Congo fueled resentment among the elite Banande, Bahunde, and Banyanga, who then campaigned to deny them citizenship. This article examines another overlooked factor in the discrimination against Kinyarwanda-speaking Congolese, particularly the Tutsi, in Eastern DR Congo: the creation of the short-lived “Central Kivu” Province, distinct from North Kivu, South Kivu, and Maniema. Contrary to the common belief that Kinyarwanda-speaking people are a small minority in Eastern DR Congo, they were a significant majority in the 1960s and likely remain so today. In 1958, the Belgian colonial administration permitted local elections in the Belgian Congo. In North Kivu, the Kinyarwanda-speaking community secured 80% of the vote, with figures like Cyprien Rwakabuba and Nepomuscene Rwiyereka winning provincial ministerial seats and Herman Habarugira becoming Commissioner of Goma. At the time, the Kivu Province encompassed North Kivu, South Kivu, and Maniema, with Bukavu as its capital. Originally named Costermansville Province in 1933, it was renamed Kivu Province in 1947. Jean Miruho, a Mushi from South Kivu, became the first Congolese Governor of Kivu Province. However, the Banande, who considered themselves more “autochthonous” than the Kinyarwanda-speaking community and believed they outnumbered other groups like the Bahunde and Banyanga, argued that the province’s leadership should belong to them. The Banande and Bahunde elites sought to create a separate North Kivu Province to escape leadership from a South Kivu Mushi. They invited Kinyarwanda-speaking leaders, including Goma’s Commissioner Herman Habarugira, to join their effort to divide Kivu Province. The Kinyarwanda-speaking elite, however, supported a unified Kivu Province with Bukavu as its capital. In response, the Banande and Bahunde proceeded to form North Kivu Province without their consent. This prompted the Kinyarwanda-speaking elite to establish their own “Central Kivu” Province, encompassing Rutshuru, Nyiragongo, and Goma. Had this division succeeded, Kivu would have been fragmented along ethnic lines: North Kivu (Beni, Lubero, and Masisi) for the Banande and Bahunde, Central Kivu (Goma, Nyiragongo, and Rutshuru) for the Kinyarwanda-speaking community, and South Kivu and Maniema for the Bashi, Batetela, and others. However, a North Kivu Province without Goma as its capital seemed impractical to the Banande and Bahunde, and granting the Kinyarwanda-speaking community their own province would have empowered them significantly. Instead, the Banande and Bahunde lobbied allies in Kinshasa to strip Kinyarwanda-speaking people of citizenship, thereby undermining their right to leadership and ensuring Banande and Bahunde dominance. The July 5, 1960, mutiny in Leopoldville (Kinshasa) and Thysville (Mbanza-Ngungu) aided the Banande and Bahunde elites. Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba’s decision to Africanise the Force Publique officer corps was supported by Jean Miruho, who coordinated with Belgian officers in Kivu to ensure a smooth transition to Congolese control. Meanwhile, the Banande and Bahunde intensified their campaign to portray Kinyarwanda-speaking people as “refugees” rather than Congolese citizens, particularly after Lumumba’s assassination, falsely labeling them as Lumumbists. On August 14, 1962, Kinshasa’s decentralisation law divided Kivu into three provinces: North Kivu, South Kivu, and Maniema. Goma became the capital of North Kivu, with Moley Benezeth as its first governor. Unrecognised by the people of Goma and Rutshuru, he set up his office in Kiroshe and later Sake. He was replaced by Denis Paluku, who served as interim governor and became governor in 1965. Since then, neither the provincial nor central government has addressed the citizenship of Kinyarwanda-speaking people, instead labeling them “Rwandan emigrants.” This ongoing denial of their rights has fueled the persistent conflict in Eastern DR Congo.
