Kigali The first businesses were established in Kigali that year by Greek and Indian merchants, with assistance from Baganda and Swahili people. Items traded included cloth and beads. However, commercial activity was limited and there were only around 30 firms in the city by 1914. Kandt also opened government-run schools in Kigali, which began educating Tutsi students. Belgian forces took control of Rwanda and Burundi in 1916, during World War I, and were granted sovereignty by a League of Nations mandate in 1919.. In early 1917, Belgium attempted to assert direct rule on the colony, placing King Musinga under arrest and
Kigali part of the upper headwaters of the Nile, forms the western and southern borders of the administrative city of Kigali, although this river lies somewhat outside the built-up urban area. The largest river running through the city is the Nyabugogo River, which flows south from Lake Muhazi before flowing west between Mount Kigali and Mount Jali, and draining into the Nyabarongo. The Nyabugogo is fed by various smaller streams throughout the city, and its drainage basin contains most of Kigali's territory, other than areas in the south which outflow directly to the Nyabarongo. The rivers are flanked by wetlands, which