56 Scarcity and Surfeitand 'ha tribes. As Prunier explains, they share the same language and cul-
ture and, historically, coexist without separate tribal homelands."
In Rwanda, there are no ethnic distinctions in terms of language, culture
and religion. According to Vidal, it would be simplistic to understand the
Rwandan conflict as a manifestation of ethnic differences. Like Prunier, Vidal
sees ethnicity in Rwanda as a colonial creation, but one that was exacerbat-
ed and manipulated by extremist politicians to maintain popular support and
control of the state. Reyntjens disagrees, and claims that ethnicity always
existed in Rwanda and is to blame for the 1994 genocide.20
It is informative to note the patterns of ethnic division in Rwanda, and the
contexts in which ethnic divisions are raised in relation to specific political
and economic aims, including, importantly, control of the state. Conflict in
Rwanda to control the state illustrates the importance of state institutions and
other decision-making structures, for instance, to determine land and
resource rights. Lee observes that such conflicts have been common through-
out human history: "Communities have fought to preserve access to scarce
resources or to prevent another from gaining such access.""
During the Habyarimana regime, power was concentrated in the hands of
the akazuZ2. The akazu mainly came from the northern prefecture of Gisenyi
and supplied a third of top government jobs and almost all heads of security
apparati. They also benefited disproportionately from state development proj-
ects." The akazu dominated the state and maintained virtual exclusive con-
trol over Rwanda's land and resources using the laws and institutions of the
state. Thus in Rwanda, the question of who controlled which decision-mak-
ing structures and processes to decide ownership of what land and resources
and for which groups was the key issue underlying conflict leading up to civil
war and genocide. Conflict to capture the state was simply the means used to
gain or maintain control of scarce land and natural resources.
In viewing conflict in Rwanda through the lens of state control, it must be
critically questioned how arguments of ethnic difference were used to sup-
port the. war and genocide. Storeyz4 lists the following strategies adopted by
the akazu to deal with challenges to their domination of the state and con-
trol of land and natural resources:
mass propaganda that blamed the Tutsi minority for poverty, famine and
general economic hardship;
violence against opposition figures; and
genocide.
The international advocacy group Human Rights Watch has documented inci-
dences of ethnic incitement of rural populations by elite groups.25 In the 1980s
and 90s, the gap between the rulers and the ruled (both Hutu and lhtsi) was
clearly widening and poverty was at a record peak. But with the advent of
multiparty democracy, and the Arusha Accords, electoral competition and