Hutu

The Hutu /ˈhuːtuː/, also known as the Abahutu, are a population inhabiting the African Great Lakes region. They mainly live in Rwanda, Burundi, and the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where they form one of the principal population divisions alongside the Tutsi and the Twa.

Demographics

The Hutu is the largest of the four main population divisions in Burundi and Rwanda. According to the Central Intelligence Agency, 84% of Rwandans and 85% of Burundians are Hutu, with Tutsis the next largest ethnic group at 15% and 14% of residents in Rwanda and Burundi, respectively.

The Twa pygmies, the smallest of the two countries' principal populations, also share language and culture with the Hutu and Tutsi. However, they are distinguished by a considerably shorter stature.

Origins

The Hutu are believed to have first emigrated to the Great Lake region from West Africa in the great Bantu expansion. Various theories have emerged to explain the purported physical differences between them and their fellow Bantu-speaking neighbors, the Tutsi. One such thesis, largely based on oral tradition, posits that the Tutsi experienced some admixture with or were partially descended from migrants of Caucasoid stock, who usually were said to have arrived in the Great Lakes region from the Horn of Africa and/or North Africa. These pastoralists were then reckoned to have established aristocracies over the sedentary Hutu and Twa. Through intermarriage with the local Bantus, the herders were gradually assimilated culturally, linguistically and racially.

Rwandan Genocide

The Rwandan Genocide was a genocidal mass slaughter of Tutsi and moderate Hutu in Rwanda by members of the Hutu majority. During the approximate 100-day period from April 7 to mid-July 1994, an estimated 500,000–1,000,000 Rwandans were killed, constituting as much as 70% of the Tutsi and 20% of Rwanda's total population. The genocide was planned by members of the core political elite known as the akazu, many of whom occupied positions at top levels of the national government. Perpetrators came from the ranks of the Rwandan army, the National Police (gendarmerie), government-backed militias including the Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi, and the Hutu civilian population.

The genocide took place in the context of the Rwandan Civil War, an ongoing conflict beginning in 1990 between the Hutu-led government and the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), which was largely composed of Tutsi refugees whose families had fled to Uganda following earlier waves of Hutu violence against the Tutsi. International pressure on the Hutu-led government of Juvénal Habyarimana resulted in a ceasefire in 1993 with a roadmap to implement the Arusha Accords that would create a power-sharing government with the RPF. This agreement displeased many conservative Hutu, including members of the Akazu, who viewed it as conceding to enemy demands. Among the broader Hutu populace, the RPF military campaign had also intensified support for the so-called "Hutu Power" ideology, which portrayed the RPF as an alien force intent on reinstating the Tutsi monarchy and enslaving Hutus, a prospect met with extreme opposition.

Ross Kemp

Ross James Kemp (born 21 July 1964) is an English actor, author and BAFTA award-winning investigative journalist who rose to prominence in the role of Grant Mitchell in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. Since 2006, Kemp has received international recognition as an investigative journalist for his critically acclaimed and award-winning documentary series.

Acting career

Early career

After training at Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art Kemp received his equity card appearing at the Palace Theatre, Westcliff-on-Sea alongside actors John Thaw and Richard Wilson (Scottish actor). Other roles included, for example, Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom) training films and Graham Lodsworth in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale Farm (now Emmerdale). He then made guest appearances in episodes of London's Burning and Birds of a Feather. He was in a film called Playing Away in 1987 in a minor role alongside Neil Morrissey.

EastEnders

His most famous role to date is that of hardman Grant Mitchell in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. Kemp made his debut in February 1990. On-screen, Kemp, as Grant, was often at the centre of EastEnders' plots, amongst them abusive marriages to Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) and Tiffany Mitchell (Martine McCutcheon), and the "Sharongate" storyline, that saw Grant's brother Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) conduct an affair with his wife.