returned to Urundi via the Cape and the Congo. Ryckmans then stayed in Usumbura, as Acting Royal Commissioner during the leave of the serving Royal Commissioner, Alfred Marzorati, before returning to Kitega, where he remained until 1928. These years as Resident-Commissioner for Urundi were probably the happiest of his life. When he arrived in 1916, Urundi was divided. The chiefs were fighting for power; the Mwami (king), Mutaga IV, had died in 1915, leaving as heir, Mwambatsu, a boy of only five years of age. Ryckmans worked to create a regency council, including some political opponents, and then made it adopt reforms pertaining to land tenure and cattle contracts. These reforms eased some burden of the poorest of peasants. Governor-General of the Belgian Congo Interwar period Ryckmans returned to Europe in 1928 and joined the bar in Brussels. However, he spent a lot of his time giving public lectures on the role of Belgium in Africa. Some of these lectures were later published in two books, Dominer pour Servir (1932) and La Politique Coloniale (1934). He then returned to Africa for six months in 1931–32 as a member of a commission tasked with studying the labour problem, and was put in charge of Congo-Kasai province. Upon his return to Belgium he again gave lectures at the Colonial University in Antwerp, and appeared in radio talks about Congo for Belgian radio listeners (published in Allo Congo in 1934). In October 1934 he was appointed Governor-General of the Belgian Congo. At that time, the Belgian Congo was badly hit by the economic crisis triggered by the Great Depression. The European population in the Belgian Congo (23,000 in 1931) had dropped to just 18,000. Harsh reforms introduced by the previous Governor-General, Auguste Tilkens, had discouraged employees working in the civil service. The Belgian devaluation of 1935, under the Paul Van Zeeland government, enabled the new Governor-General to lower duties on imports and raise duties on exports, balancing the colony's budget. This move, with the support of the Belgian Minister for Colonies, Edmond Rubbens, helped revive the Belgian Congo's economy. By 1936, the economic situation was improving rapidly. Ryckmans was also very active, not staying long in the capital Léopoldville (now Kinshasa) and touring the colony frequently. At the time, not only the government, but also simple administration services, were all centralised in Brussels, and all civil servants were appointed by Brussels. The Governor-General