Background and introduction: state and society in Rwanda after 1994

In April 2013, Rwanda commemorated the nineteenth anniversary of the genocide that engulfed the country for 100 days in 1994, during which more than half a million people were killed, most of them from the Tutsi ethnic group, at the hands of their ethnic Hutu neighbours. The post-genocide government of Rwanda, led by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), has received international acclaim for its efforts to rebuild the country. According to the United Nations, Rwanda's post-genocide reconstruction and reconciliation policies deserve to be emulated in other post-conflict societies in Africa and elsewhere (UNOHRLLS/UNDP 2006). An important cornerstone of these efforts has been the national unity and reconciliation programme, the neo-traditional gacaca local-level courts, and the country's agricultural policy. The RPF claims that these initiatives have been successful and that they enjoy wide popular support from rural Rwandans, some 85 per cent of the population. President Paul Kagame stresses to both domestic and international audiences that he enjoys broad-based, popular support, evidenced by his 2010 electoral victory with 93 per cent of the vote (Kagame 2011). Indeed, this electoral legitimacy is part of a broader narrative of Rwanda's successful reconstruction since 1994. Under the leadership of President Kagame and his RPF, the country has achieved rapid reconstruction of state institutions and its infrastructure, including new roads, bridges, airports and Wi-Fi internet hotspots as well as new and improved service delivery in education, justice and health.