Key dates that shaped Rwanda’s Liberation struggle

By
The Kaminuza Star
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RPA soldiers marching toward freedom during Rwanda’s Liberation War.

Every year on July 4, Rwandans commemorate Liberation Day, honoring the heroism of the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA), the armed wing of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF-Inkotanyi), which halted the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and went on to form a Government of national unity and reconciliation.

The liberation struggle began on October 1, 1990, when RPA forces crossed into Rwanda from Uganda via the Kagitumba border, launching a four-year campaign that culminated in the fall of the genocidal regime and the liberation of Kigali.

As Rwanda marks the 31st anniversary of liberation, here are the pivotal dates that defined the struggle:

1990

  • October 1: The RPA launched its armed liberation campaign at Kagitumba, led by Major General Fred Gisa Rwigema. The force met fierce resistance from the regime of President Juvenal Habyarimana, supported by foreign troops and mercenaries.
  • October 2: Gen. Fred Gisa Rwigema was killed at Nyabwishongwezi, creating a leadership vacuum and causing a temporary setback.
  • October 4: France deployed 300 troops to protect its nationals. Meanwhile, the RPA’s 9th Battalion captured Nyagatare.
  • Night of October 4 – 5: The government falsely announced an RPA attack on Kigali, using it as a pretext to arrest over 10,000 Tutsi and opposition figures.
  • October 5: Reinforcements from Belgium and Zaire totaling 535 troops arrived in support of government forces.
  • October 6 – 7: RPA’s 4th Battalion seized Gabiro.
  • October 8: In retaliation for clashes in Kagitumba, government forces massacred over 1,000 Tutsi pastoralists in Mutara.
  • October 11 – 13: Around 400 Tutsi were killed in Kibilira Commune.
  • October 23: RPA commanders Majors Bunyenyezi and Bayingana were ambushed and killed in Ryabega.
  • November 13: President Habyarimana legalized opposition parties and pledged to remove ethnic identity from ID cards; promises that were never fulfilled.
  • December 6: The extremist Kangura newspaper published the “10 Hutu Commandments,” eight of which incited violence against Tutsi.
Major General Fred Gisa Rwigema, who launched the Liberation War on October 1, 1990, played a pivotal role in its early stages.

1991

  • January 3: RPA attacked Gatuna and Kaniga to disrupt government supply lines.
  • January 7: Several Rwandans were sentenced to death for alleged collaboration with the RPF.
  • January 23: RPA captured Ruhengeri and released political prisoners.
  • January – March: Between 500 and 1,000 Tutsi of the Abagogwe clan were massacred.

1992

  • March: The Coalition for the Defense of the Republic (CDR), an extremist Hutu party, was founded. Approximately 300 Tutsi were killed in Bugesera.
  • May: RPA advances led to the capture of several communes, displacing over 350,000 people.
  • August: Tutsi massacres occurred in Kibuye.
  • November: Politician Léon Mugesera delivered a speech in Kabaya inciting genocide, urging that Tutsi be sent “back to Ethiopia via the Nyabarongo River.”

1993

  • February 8: RPA captured a significant portion of the country but strategically withdrew to show the international community that Tutsi were still under threat.
  • March 8: An international report implicated the presidency in the killings of the Abagogwe in Gisenyi and Ruhengeri.
  • April 7: The government dismissed the findings.
  • August: Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM) began broadcasting anti-Tutsi hate propaganda.
  • August 4: Although the Arusha Accords were signed, the regime continued training genocidal militias like the Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi.
  • December 28: RPA’s 3rd Battalion arrived in Kigali at the CND (Conseil National de Développement) building, as stipulated by the Arusha agreement.

1994

  • April 6: President Habyarimana’s plane was shot down near Kigali airport after returning from peace talks in Dar es Salaam.
  • April 7: Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana, 10 Belgian UN peacekeepers, and multiple opposition leaders were murdered. Genocide began in areas including Butare, Gitarama, and Murambi (Byumba).
  • April 8: RPA launched an offensive to stop the Genocide and capture Kigali.
  • April 14: Belgium ordered the withdrawal of its troops, completed by April 20.
  • April 18: RPA shelled RTLM to disrupt incitement to violence.
  • April 19: President Théodore Sindikubwabo, installed by the interim regime, incited mass killings in Butare. Dissenters were also targeted.
  • April 21: RPA liberated Byumba.
  • April 21–22: UN Security Council passed Resolution 912, drastically reducing peacekeeping forces to 270 troops.
  • April 30: RPA secured the Rusumo border crossing with Tanzania.
  • May 16: RPA cut off the strategic Gitarama–Kigali road.
  • May 22: RPA captured Kigali International Airport and Kanombe military base.
  • May 29: RPA seized Nyanza.
  • June 2: RPA liberated Kabgayi.
  • June 10: The interim government relocated to Gisenyi.
  • June 13: RPA captured Gitarama, the former seat of the interim government.
  • June 21: French troops entered Rwanda under “Operation Turquoise,” authorized by UN Resolution 929.
  • June 28: The UN officially recognized that a genocide against the Tutsi was taking place.
  • July 3: RPA liberated Butare.
  • July 4: Kigali was captured. The genocidal regime fled into Zaire.
  • July 14: RPA liberated Ruhengeri.
  • July 17: RPA took Gisenyi.
  • July 19: A Government of National Unity was established, formally ending the Genocide.

On these dates, the sounds of gunfire finally ceased in Kigali, symbolizing the end of the Genocide against the Tutsi, as RPA successfully defeated FAR and Interahamwe, most of whom fled into Zaire.

By Pichou BYIRINGIRO/ The Kaminuza Star