Yuhi Musinga: Yuhi V of Rwanda, 1883 -13 January 1944

Yuhi Musinga (Yuhi V of Rwanda, 1883 -13 January 1944) was a Rwanda king (umwami) who assumed power in 1896 and joined the German government in order to consolidate his kingship. Later in 1931 he was overthrown by the Belgian government due to his failure to cooperate with his subordinate chiefs and his denial of baptism as a Roman Catholic. His eldest son, Mutara III Rudahigwa, took over.Musinga came to power as a young teenager, in a coup that had overthrown the short lived rule of Mibambwe IV Rutarindwa, the real heir to the mighty king Kigeri Rwabugiri (1840-95) of Rwanda. During his reign Musinga had to fight three key problems. The former was the issue of legitimacy. The members of Bega clan such as Kanjogera, the widow of Rwobugiri, the mother of Musinga, made several plans to overthrow Rutarindwa. This adoption of the kingship caused doubts as to the legitimacy of Musinga in his claim to the kingship, which was usually determined by a well established ritual. The second one was the connection between the royal court and the individual regions of the country because after the death of Rwobugiri numerous territories, occupied by his military forces separated, weakening the sphere of dominion of the kingdom. Third, the conversion of Musinga was soon succeeded by the establishment of the German forces in the region as well as the arrival of a very strong missionary order, the Missionnaires dAfrique (the White Fathers) which led to a colonial environment that characterized the reign of Musinga (1896-1931).

The regime of Yuhi V was at first rather unpopular and received the title Cyiimyamaboko (It is force that rules) because its sources were the pro-coup armies. The king turned to the Began clan of his mother and the Germans, but encountered numerous revolts and dissidents. Ndungutse rebellion of 1912 was one of the gravest threats to his rule by a man who was purportedly the son of Mibambwe IV Rutarindwa and could find as much support as possible in the northern region of Rwanda. The insurgence was not crushed until there was a German intervention.

Under Musinga, German influence was employed to recapture royal control over most of the autonomous regions and the court delegates acted as colonial administrators, particularly under the Belgium following World War I. Trying to spread the court legitimacy was also done through the missionaries. Nevertheless, these policies of alliance with European parties caused deep divisions in the royal court of Musinga, with one political faction vying against the other and finding different alliances with foreigners and domestic allies. The reign of Musinga was characterized by four aspects, including World War I and the substitution of German control with the Belgian rule; the expansion of the royal authority over regions independent of the court; the existence of numerous influential competing groups inside the court; and a great famine in 1928-29.

In November 1931, the Belgian government overthrew Musinga and his son Mutara Rudahigwa (r. 1931-59) left behind to replace him. Musinga would pass on on 13 January 1944, in natural causes, first in Kamembe or southwest Rwanda, and then in Kilembwe, southeastern Congo. Mibambwe IV Rutarindwa was Mwami Rwanda, and his reign was between September 1895 and December 1896, a son of Kigeli IV Rwabugiri who made him co-ruler in 1889. Rutarindwa is spelled as Rutalindwa at times.