The National Archives of Rwanda is located in
Kigali. The earliest documents held in the Rwandan archives are from the 1890s. However, in 1959, as Belgium's imperial project was dissolving, most documents from Rwandan and German colonial rule that were held in Kigali were transferred to an archive in
Usumbura
Bujumbura (; ), formerly Usumbura, is the economic capital, largest city and main port of Burundi. It ships most of the country's chief export, coffee, as well as cotton and tin ore. Bujumbura was formerly the country's normal capital. In late ...
, Burundi, which was also a Belgian colony at the time. A presidential decree formally established a government archive in 1979. The Rwanda Archives and Library Services Authority was established by the Law in 2014.
The archives were damaged during the violence of the
Genocide against the Tutsi
The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed Hutu ...
of 1994, and efforts to rebuild them did not begin until the 2000s. In 2013, the government signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a non-profit human rights group called Aegis to preserve documents related to the 1994 genocide. In January 2016, Aegis announced that a group of volunteers has been arranged to index 1.8 million documents in the archives' holdings. Some of these documents have now been made available online through the Ministry of Sports and Culture's website, but few documents from pre-genocide independent Rwanda are included.
According to the archives' official webpage, most of their holdings consist of:
--Correspondence—Reports and Minutes—Letters—Procès-verbal—Telegrams—Action Plans—Travel Clearances—Memorandums—Communiqué—Organigrammes—Judicial Files—Projects—Diplomas—Certificates—Decisions—Invitations—Penal Code—Finance and Accounting
See also
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List of national archives
National archives are central archives maintained by countries. This article contains a list of national archives.
Among its more important tasks are to ensure the accessibility and preservation of the information produced by governments, both ...
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National Library of Rwanda
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:National Archives Of Rwanda
History of Rwanda
Kigali
Rwanda
Rwandan culture