Fundamental Principles of the Rwandan State
Senior 6 · History
Fundamental Principles of the Rwandan State
Lesson 1 of 4
25 min
Every modern state rests on a written promise about what kind of state it will be. Rwanda's promise is short enough to read in a minute. It sits in Chapter III of the Constitution of the Republic of Rwanda of 2003 revised in 2015, in the version revised again in 2023, under the heading "Fundamental principles and home-grown solutions". Read it slowly, because every phrase in it answers something that went wrong in Rwanda's past.
Article 10: Fundamental principles
The State of Rwanda commits itself to upholding and ensuring respect for the following fundamental principles:
(a) prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide, fight against denial and revisionism of genocide as well as eradication of genocide ideology and all its manifestations;
(b) eradication of discrimination and divisionism based on ethnicity, region or any other ground, as well as promotion of national unity;
(c) equitable power-sharing;
(d) building a State governed by the rule of law, a pluralistic democratic Government, equality of all Rwandans and between women and men which is affirmed by women occupying at least 30% of positions in decision-making organs;
(e) building a State committed to promoting social welfare and establishing appropriate mechanisms for equal opportunity to social justice;
(f) constant quest for solutions through dialogue and consensus.
Official English text, Official Gazette (special issue) of 4 August 2023.
The reason for these commitments is given in the Preamble, where "We, the People of Rwanda" declare themselves "CONSCIOUS of the Genocide committed against the Tutsi that decimated more than 1,000,000 sons and daughters of Rwanda, and further conscious of the dark moments in our country's history". The Preamble gives the reason; Article 10 turns the reason into binding commitments.
Definition
Constitution: the supreme law of a state, which sets up its institutions, divides power among them and states the rights and duties of its people. Article 3 of Rwanda's Constitution says: "The Constitution is the supreme law of the country. A law, a decision or an act contrary to this Constitution is without effect."
Fundamental principle: a basic rule of the state's character that every law and institution must respect. It is more general than a single law: laws are made to carry it out. Example: the principle of equitable power sharing is carried out by the rule in Article 62 that the President and the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies cannot come from the same political organisation.
Start with the verbs. The State "commits itself to upholding and ensuring respect for" the principles. That is two duties, not one. The State must obey the principles in its own conduct, and it must make sure that others (political parties, the media, schools, citizens) respect them too. A principle is therefore both a limit on power and a task for power.
Next, notice that each principle is aimed at a specific danger. Historians call this reading a text in its context: you ask what problem the authors were trying to solve. The table matches each principle to the history behind it and to the articles that make it concrete.
| Principle | The danger it answers | Where the Constitution makes it concrete |
|---|---|---|
| (a) Fight genocide, its denial and its ideology | The 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, prepared by years of propaganda that taught people to see neighbours as enemies | Art. 50 (welfare of needy survivors), Art. 52 (preservation of genocide memorial sites) |
| (b) End discrimination and divisionism; promote unity | Colonial and post-colonial rule that fixed "ethnic" labels on identity cards and used them to exclude people from schools, jobs and the country itself | Art. 16 (discrimination "on the basis of ethnicity, family or descent, clan, skin colour, sex, region…" is prohibited and punishable by law), Art. 57 (parties may not base themselves on "race, ethnic group, tribe, lineage, ancestry, region, sex, religion") |
| (c) Equitable power sharing | Winner-takes-all rule, including a single-party state, that left large groups with no voice | Art. 62 (President and Speaker from different parties; the majority party holds no more than 50% of Cabinet posts) |
| (d) Rule of law, pluralist democracy, equality of men and women | Rulers above the law; women shut out of decisions | Art. 3 (supremacy of the Constitution), Art. 54 (multiparty system), the 30% minimum in Art. 10 itself |
| (e) Social welfare and social justice | A country left in ruins in 1994, with survivors, orphans and disabled people in need | Art. 50 and Art. 51 (special actions for needy survivors, persons with disabilities and other needy persons) |
| (f) Dialogue and consensus | Disputes settled by exclusion and violence instead of discussion | Art. 59 (the National Consultative Forum of Political Organisations, for "political dialogue, and building consensus and national cohesion") |
Definition
Genocide ideology: in the words of Law N° 59 of 2018 on the crime of genocide ideology and related crimes (Article 4), an act done in public that "manifests an ideology that supports or advocates for destroying, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group". Genocide denial (negationism) claims that the genocide was not genocide, that it was not planned, or that there was a "double genocide" (all named as denial in Article 5 of that law). Revisionism distorts the history in other ways, for example by minimising the gravity of the genocide, giving false numbers of victims or blaming the victims.
Divisionism: speech or acts that set groups of Rwandans against one another on grounds such as ethnicity or region.
Equitable power sharing: dividing public office fairly among political forces and groups, so that no single party or group holds all of it.
Rule of law: everyone, rulers included, is subject to known laws applied by independent courts. Pluralism: several political organisations may exist and compete. Consensus: a decision that all parties can accept after discussion, rather than one imposed by a bare majority.
The principles were not written in a single sitting. Their roots run back through three stages, shown on the timeline.
The Arusha Peace Agreement (4 August 1993). Signed between the Government of Rwanda and the Rwandan Patriotic Front, it contained protocols on the rule of law and on power sharing, and on the return of refugees, many of whom had lived in exile since 1959. It was never carried out: extremists who rejected it went on to organise the genocide.
The 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and the transition. Between April and July 1994 more than a million people were killed, as the Preamble records. After the genocide was stopped in July 1994, a Government of National Unity ruled during a transition that lasted until 2003. During these years national debates were held to decide how the country should be rebuilt.
The Constitution of 2003 and its revision in 2015. Rwandans approved the Constitution by referendum on 26 May 2003, and it was promulgated on 4 June 2003. Its Article 9 already listed the six principles, beginning with "fighting the ideology of genocide and all its manifestations". A second referendum, held on 18 December 2015, revised the Constitution; the principles moved to Article 10, and the first one was widened to cover the prevention and punishment of genocide and the fight against its denial and revisionism. On 5 July 2023 the two chambers of Parliament, sitting as a Constituent Assembly, revised the Constitution again, and the new text was published in the Official Gazette on 4 August 2023. Article 10 kept its six principles.
Warning
Three mistakes examiners see every year
Tip
Six words, six principles. Remember them in the order of the article: Genocide (fight it), Unity (no divisionism), Power (share it), Law (rule of law, democracy, gender equality), Welfare (social justice), Dialogue (consensus). In an essay, name each principle and then quote a key phrase from the article: a quotation proves you know the text, not a paraphrase of it.
Important
Discuss. Principle (d) guarantees women "at least 30%" of positions in decision-making organs. Some people argue that a guaranteed minimum is the fastest way to equality; others argue that positions should go purely on merit. Using the wording of the article, prepare a two-minute argument for each side, then decide which is stronger and why.
Al Jazeera English, "Rwanda women win majority rule" (2013, about 2.5 minutes). Watch for how the 24 reserved seats for women work alongside the 53 seats elected from party lists, and note the share of seats women won. Use it as evidence in the discussion above.
Practice
Answer on paper first. Questions 1 to 3 test the text, 4 and 5 test context, and 6 is an exam-style essay plan.
Sources and credits
Written by Ganzaa: the analysis, the table, the timeline diagram, the definitions and the exercises. This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
