African people essentially keep quiet (4)
I believe the answer is:
hutu
'african' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
I can't explain the rest of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for hutu that I've seen before include "Rwandan or Burundian" , "Bantu speaker from Rwanda or Burundi" , "African" , "A member of one Rwandan people" , "Africans" .)