Impacts of colonialism in Africa: A case study of Ethnic Identity and Ethnic Conflicts in Burundi

This thesis describes the perceptions of the Hutu/Tutsi communities in Bujumbura on the origin of ethnic conflicts in Burundi. With the use of a qualitative research method, this thesis describes the history and origin of ethnicity and ethnic identity between the Hutu and the Tutsi. Focusing on the case study approach, both secondary and primary research methods are used in the process of data sources with emphasis on the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial eras of the country. The thesis findings show that ethnicity in Burundi has changed over the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial eras. The ethnic structures in Burundi changed from that of togetherness in the pre-colonial period to that of hatred in both the colonial and post-colonial eras. The way forward for Burundi is to change the governance structures in the country so as to dismantle the colonial structures and shift back to the traditional pre-colonial structures