Why did Belgian colonial authorities give preference to Tutsi people in local administration?

Belgian colonial authorities gave preference to the Tutsi in local administration based on a flawed and discriminatory ideology. Colonial administrators incorrectly assumed that ethnicity could be strictly defined by physical characteristics, such as height and skin tone, and they applied European biases to these traits to categorize the Tutsi as superior to the Hutu.12

By rigidifying previously fluid social categories, the Belgian administration institutionalized this perceived hierarchy, which reinforced the hegemony of the Tutsi ruling class and concentrated political power within the Tutsi minority. This policy of indirect rule, which had been initiated under German control, was expanded by Belgium to solidify the Tutsi monarchy and administrative dominance, ultimately contributing to long-term ethnic tensions in the region. It is ethically imperative to recognize that such colonial practices were rooted in racial prejudice and the dehumanizing simplification of complex social structures, which caused profound and lasting harm to the people of Burundi.312