Postage stamps and postal history of Rwanda Postage stamps and postal history of Rwanda This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Rwanda. The "Republic of Rwanda" is a landlocked country located in the Great Lakes region of eastern-central Africa, bordered by Uganda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania. The first stamps used in the area now known as Rwanda were stamps of German East Africa which was the colonial power in the area until 1916 when Belgian troops seized the territory during the First World War. Stamps of Ruanda-Urundi were then used until independence. The first stamps of independent
Elections in Rwanda with chiefs and Territorial Councils electing the Superior Council member. Elections were held under this system in 1953–54 and 1956–57. The first direct elections were held in September 1961, with MDR-Parmehutu winning 35 of the 44 seats in the Legislative Assembly. Following independence in 1962 the country became a one-party state with MDR-Parmehutu as the sole legal party. General elections were held in 1965 in which Grégoire Kayibanda was re-elected President unopposed, whilst the party won all 47 seats in the National Assembly; in the presidential elections voters could vote for or against Kayibanda's candidacy, whilst in the National Assembly