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A Belgian priest, Stefaan Minnaert has published a book with incriminating details on the history and deeds of missionaries in Rwanda.

Fr. Stefaan Minnaert first reached in Rwanda in 1981 serving as a White Father at various Parishes.

His book 332-page long, which examined the 1900-1916 periods when German colonisers were in Rwanda, was printed in Kigali in 2017.

The book, titled “Histoire de l’Évangelisation du Rwanda, Recueil d’Articles et de Documents,” is a collection of articles and documents concerning former missionaries, including Cardinal Lavigerie, Mgr Hirth, le Dr Kandt, Le Père Brard, le Père Classe, le Père Loupias, and Mgr Perraudin, as well as a famous Rwandan chief Rukara, among others, The New Times reports

The book aims to expose the truth around the history of the country by revealing what missionaries did in Rwanda yet had remained concealed for long.

The book also exposes documents related to the missionary work in Rwanda and the socio-economic and political aspects of Rwanda of the time that had been kept under lock and key for decades.

According to the documents in the book, missionaries and western colonisers worked hand in hand for the colonisation to be successful.

The book further exposes military expeditions organised by White Fathers against Rwandans at Rwaza [parish – in Burera District] when they resisted (religious) conversion and hard labour in 1904, according to the report.

Speaking during the launch of the book in Kigali on Friday, Prof. Paul Rutayisire, a historian at University of Rwanda who wrote the foreword in the book, said it will help researchers interested in the country’s history to carry out research that’s based on reliable information.

The book says the history of Rwanda was manipulated in the interest of the colonisers and missionaries, with view to justifying colonisation.

Fr Minnaert hopes his work will help Rwandans and others better understand the country’s history and the dynamics that shaped it.