The commune of Buyenzi ( Wilaya ya Buyenzi, in Swahili) is a historic commune (District) of Bujumbura Mairie Province in western Burundi. The district is known for its Swahili heritage and influence not just in Bujumbura but Burundi as a whole. Buyenzi communie is laid on a grid plan and has 25 horizontal numbered streets.Seleman, Aisha. Universal primary education and school enrolment in Buyenzi Commune (District), Burundi. Diss. Kampala International University, College of Humanities and Social Sciences., 2012.
History Following the 1830s, commercial relations between the Lake Tanganyika region and the Swahili traders of the Indian Ocean grew more intense, and Ujiji, located at the western end of one of the main overland caravan routes, quickly gained significance. Through ordinary daily interactions between traders and the local populace, Lake Tanganyika gradually developed into a "second Swahili coast," adopting many of the distinctive Swahili traits, such as the Swahili language, Islamic architecture and attire, and Islam itself.Belt, Lianne. "How linguistic features and social arrangements can interrelate: The position of Swahili and its speakers in Bujumbura." Researching Africa (2010): 76.
As the first Swahili settlement for the specific neighborhood, Buyenzi is home to the majority of Burundian Muslims who are mostly descendants of Swahili merchants from the Swahili Coast in the early 19th Century. Masjid Al Jummaa of Buyenzi, located on 12th and 13th streets of Buyenzi, is the second-largest mosque in Burundi and reflects the Swahili Islamic heritage.
Due to caravan trade networks from the East African coast into the interior, the Swahili language had historically been spoken around the beaches of Lake Tanganyika since the second half of the 19th century. The German colonial authorities, who encouraged the spread of Kiswahili in Tanganyika, the hub of German East Africa, particularly in the early 20th century, instrumentalized the language as a counterforce against the spread of English, however, were responsible for the language's initial widespread introduction.
When examining a dispute that occurred in 1902 at the Reichskolonialamt, it also becomes clear that Kiswahili was widely used and taught in the German colony (such as in the German school in Gitega). The disagreement was about funding for a Kirundi dictionary, which was suggested by the Catholic missionary van der Burg but rejected by the German governor Graf von Götzen, who suggested Kiswahili instead because it was more widely spoken. Germans "became so enamored with Kiswahili that they even imagined transplanting it to Cameroon" during the colonial era because it was perceived as a bulwark against English, the main colonial language.Belt, Lianne. "How linguistic features and social arrangements can interrelate: The position of Swahili and its speakers in Bujumbura." Researching Africa (2010): 76.
Kiswahili was never widely adopted (or diffused) in Burundi as it was under the German occupation of Tanganyika. The first school in Usumbura (today's Bujumbura) was established in 1909 by the German Residentur, who chose Kiswahili as the medium of teaching because it was the only official language in Ruanda-Urundi. The result was that, "the Swahili language, supplemented by the defining characteristics of the Swahili culture, was instituted in Bujumbura and all its inhabitants spoke the language as a lingua franca".
Kiswahili has continued to be used in Bujumbura, but its standing and renown have altered throughout time. According to Belt, who emphasizes that initially it used to be the language that united people from different backgrounds but later changed into the language of strangers, Muslims, and "uncivilized" people, the language was not only spoken by various groups but also associated with various linguistic ideologies and inherent attitudes.
Persecution Belgium was handed the mandate over Ruanda-Urundi after the First World War, when Germany was defeated. The main reason they first upheld the German linguistic policy was that Swahili was also spoken in the Belgian Congo along the coast of Lake Tanganyika. It was unfathomable to be unable to communicate in Swahili, but throughout time, numerous new regulations came into effect, affecting Bujumbura's residents' social, economic, and linguistic circumstances significantly. Bujumbura grew more stratified as the Belgians attempted to create distinct economic and physical sectors for the various racial groups. Boundaries were also set within the town, just as they had been between rural and urban areas.Belt, Lianne. "How linguistic features and social arrangements can interrelate: The position of Swahili and its speakers in Bujumbura." Researching Africa (2010): 76.
Due to their link with Islam, Kiswahili speakers were eventually marginalized by Belgian authorities because Swahili had been used as an ideological tool during German administration. In order to clearly implement a strategy of strategic stratification, new boundaries were erected between Muslim and non-Muslim groups as well as between urban and rural ones. The Kirundi-speaking majority was preferred, while the Muslim and Swahili minorities were meant to be driven out of the city.
People who spoke Kiswahili were forced by the Belgians to pay higher taxes, and starting in 1927, Kirundi was the sole language taught in schools. The Swahili group was hit harder by the educational reforms implemented in 1927, which saw the Catholic Church assume almost all of the duties associated with education and change the language of instruction from Latin to Kirundi in primary schools and French in higher education. Muslims who refused to convert to Christianity were denied access to education and the skills that the European government and businesses required. This also applied to the teaching of artisanal skills.Therefore, professions which could be learned without formal instruction became increasingly common among the Muslim community.Belt, Lianne. "How linguistic features and social arrangements can interrelate: The position of Swahili and its speakers in Bujumbura." Researching Africa (2010): 76.
A separate residential area was created aside for non-Muslim Africans who had full-time, salaried jobs in order to "control" the African population. The majority of Swahilis were not permitted to dwell there because of their diverse range of jobs. When Asians [and Arabs] effectively drove the later-arrived, less-affluent Swahilis out of the Asian commune (Matongoni) and into a nearby neighborhood known as Kabondo, the stratification grew even tougher.Belt, Lianne. "How linguistic features and social arrangements can interrelate: The position of Swahili and its speakers in Bujumbura." Researching Africa (2010): 76.
Buyenzi as a district for the Swahili in the 1930s By the end of the 1920s, the divisions within Bujumbura's population and the communes allocated to them were firmly drawn: Europeans, Asians, Swahilis, and other Africans, each group with its own neighbourhood, each with appropriate occupations'. This separation between Catholic and Muslim Africans was emphasized by their growing geographic separation.Belt, Lianne. "How linguistic features and social arrangements can interrelate: The position of Swahili and its speakers in Bujumbura." Researching Africa (2010): 76.
Midway through the 1930s, two additional communes were founded. One was Buyenzi, the village des Swahilis created for the Swahilis who were relocated from Kabondo, Mbugani, or Matongoni. Most of the residents were probably born, married, and passed away in the area. The other community, Belge, was located nearer the town's center and its residents were either Christians or traditionalists. They were frequently young men who had gone to Bujumbura in search of employment, got married, and then frequently never brought their wives and kids back to Bujumbura.Belt, Lianne. "How linguistic features and social arrangements can interrelate: The position of Swahili and its speakers in Bujumbura." Researching Africa (2010): 76.Hunt, Nancy Rose. “Domesticity and Colonialism in Belgian Africa: Usumbura’s Foyer Social, 1946-1960.” Signs, vol. 15, no. 3, 1990, pp. 447–74. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3174423. Accessed 4 Sept. 2023.
They typically spoke French and had stable employment in a respectable position that they had been able to obtain as a result of attending a mission school. In contrast, those in Buyenzi frequently lacked proper training, frequently changed positions, and were no longer the "right hand" of the government. The new stratification policy of the Belgian government had the result that "Islam no longer exercised the attraction to immigrants it once did." Those who had just arrived in Bujumbura now had access to a sizable, largely stable group of Africans who were not yet converted to Christianity.Belt, Lianne. "How linguistic features and social arrangements can interrelate: The position of Swahili and its speakers in Bujumbura." Researching Africa (2010): 76.Hunt, Nancy Rose. “Domesticity and Colonialism in Belgian Africa: Usumbura’s Foyer Social, 1946-1960.” Signs, vol. 15, no. 3, 1990, pp. 447–74. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3174423. Accessed 4 Sept. 2023.
Consequently, even though there were three times as many Muslims as non-Muslims in Bujumbura in the 1930s, they were no longer the majority by 1948. Swahilis were no longer the center of the African community in Bujumbura. In response, the Swahilis regrouped various nations and ethnic groups, including the Congolese, Ugandans, Rwandans, Rundis, Tanganyika residents, and Arab-Swahilis, to build an increasingly cohesive community. They were united by occupation, religion, language, and place of residence, which were four factors. Swahili evolved into a way of identifying oneself with others who did not speak the language as well as a medium of communication. Islam introduced them to a social structure and cultural framework that isolated them from the rest of society.Belt, Lianne. "How linguistic features and social arrangements can interrelate: The position of Swahili and its speakers in Bujumbura." Researching Africa (2010): 76.Hunt, Nancy Rose. “Domesticity and Colonialism in Belgian Africa: Usumbura’s Foyer Social, 1946-1960.” Signs, vol. 15, no. 3, 1990, pp. 447–74. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3174423. Accessed 4 Sept. 2023.
Buyenzi in the 1950s The Swahilis in Bujumbura lived pretty well even without occupations in the colonial government, better than the Rwandans and the Rundi. The slurs between the two groups were more frequent as a result. The Swahilis were successful in business, but this success was sometimes attributed to unlawful trade and thievery rather than to their astute economic judgment and open minds. The Swahili people began to develop a bad reputation, which eventually led to the name "Swahili" being used to refer to thugs, liars, thieves, and generally dishonest people. Belt, Lianne. "How linguistic features and social arrangements can interrelate: The position of Swahili and its speakers in Bujumbura." Researching Africa (2010): 76.
Since 1950, it has been illegal to enter into new polygamous unions, which has led to an increase in the number of unmarried Swahili women. The government mistook these ladies for still being in their unlawful marriages or prostitutes and did not think they were truly unmarried. The large taxes imposed on unmarried women as a result were known as "kodi ya malaya" (tax on prostitutes) by the Swahili clerks.Belt, Lianne. "How linguistic features and social arrangements can interrelate: The position of Swahili and its speakers in Bujumbura." Researching Africa (2010): 76.