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The struggle for independence in most African countries has been characterised by uprisings of the local population against the colonial power. In Rwanda however the wrath of the agitators was directed towards another section of the same population, resulting in thousands fleeing and becoming refugees. This background haunts the different regimes in Kigali, and led to the 1990 invasion by Rwandese refugees. The author, a historian at Makerere University, traces the roots of the conflict up to the timeof the invasion and the signing of the peace pact between the RwandaPatriotic Front and the Kigali Government.