Missionaries and the Colonial State

"Authored by David Whitehouse, “Missionaries and the Colonial State: Radicalism and Governance in Rwanda and Burundi, 1900–1972” is a brilliant addition to the existing knowledge of the subject. The originality and main point of this work is that the missionaries followed their own agendas as opposed to the agenda of the Belgian colonial state in Rwanda and Burundi. Of the two, the missionaries had the upper hand. The colonial state was weak – it lacked the capacity to articulate and enforce its own agenda. Crucially, besides this main theme, the book analyses the key moments in history of Rwanda and Burundi, such the overthrow of the Tutsi Kings, Musinga in 1931, Kigeli in 1959, and the launch of the Hutu rule under Gregoire Kayibanda in what became known as the “social revolution.” The book also examines the fragmentation of the Hutu ruling elite into Southern and Northern factions that led to the overthrow of President Kayibanda by General Juvenal Habyarimana in 1973. This work is not only an important resource for historians of Christianity and colonial rule in Belgian Africa, it is vital for Rwandans and Burundians who seek to enlighten themselves on the actors that shaped our history that still impacts our countries" - David Himbara, Educator, Author and Professor of International Development, based in Toronto, Canada