After independence : from AD 1962
Ruanda and urundi became independent in July 1962. UN wanted a single nation but both opt to exist as a separate state. The spelling of the name of Ruanda was changed to Rwanda and Ureundi changed its name to Burundi.
The first presidential election of Rwanda was won by Gregoire Kayibanda, the leader of the interim provisional Government. The name of his party was Party for Hutu Emancipation and in the spirit of that the first task they undertook a movement to kill all the "cockroaches" ( Slang name for Tutsi used by Hutus).
In Dec. 1963, several hundred of Tutsi guerrillas enter southern Rwanda from burundi.they advanced within 12 miles of the capital,Kigali before they were eliminated by the Rwandan army.this event prompted the Govt. to announce to "clear the bushes" and within days 14,000 Tutsis were massacreedin the southern province of Rwanda. Bertrand Russel termed this as "the most horrible and systematic massacre". This was what the Hutus achieved after independence in 1990s. from 1962 to 1990, in28 years there were two Hutu rulers acted as President. The second one , Habyarimina took the charge from Kayibanda by a simple coup in1973. and remained in power for 21 yrs. withwestern help. Habyarimina declared in 1986 that there would be no right of return of Tutsi refugees within Rwanda. As a result, the Tutsis , ex-servicemen in the army of Uganda, formed a nucleus and invaded against all odds put an end to the Habyarimina's rgime. But this act led to an incident called "the genocide of Rwanda" unknown to the world.
