National Service and Self-Reliance
Senior 6 · General and Religious Studies
National Service and Self-Reliance
Lesson 2 of 4
24 min
In pre-colonial Rwanda, the itorero was the place where young people, above all those who would serve the king and the community, were trained. They learned the values the society prized, such as courage, integrity, self-sacrifice and loyalty, together with eloquence, poetry, dance and the skills of defence. The trainees were called intore, "the chosen ones".
After the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, the country needed a way to rebuild shared values. At a leadership retreat in February 2007, the idea of bringing back the itorero was raised. The Cabinet decided on 12 November 2007 to revive it, and on 16 November 2007 the President launched Itorero ry'Igihugu, the national itorero. Every year, 16 November is marked as Itorero Day. From this revival grew Rwanda's present national service programme, Urugerero.
Important
Source A: Constitution of the Republic of Rwanda of 2003 revised in 2015, Article 48 ("Participation in the development of the country")
"The State has the duty to put in place development strategies for its citizens.
All Rwandans have the duty to participate in the development of the country through their dedication to work, safeguarding peace, democracy, equality and social justice as well as to participate in the defence of their country.
A law governs the organisation of national service."
Definition
Itorero: a traditional Rwandan school of civic values, leadership and culture, revived in 2007 as Itorero ry'Igihugu, the national civic education programme.
Intore: a person trained in the itorero, expected to put the community's good before his or her own.
Urugerero: Rwanda's national service programme, in which young people, mainly secondary-school leavers, give a period of unpaid community service.
Inkomezabigwi: the name given to the cohorts of school leavers who do Urugerero; each year's group is numbered (for example "Inkomezabigwi 12").
Indangamirwa: a residential itorero programme, started in 2008, for selected young Rwandans aged 18 to 25, including young people from the diaspora and the best performers in Urugerero.
Today Urugerero is run by the Ministry of National Unity and Civic Engagement (MINUBUMWE), which took over the work of the National Itorero Commission in 2021. In the current format, school leavers serve in their own sectors and cells: from Monday to Thursday they do hands-on community work, and on Friday they take part in civic education, including discussions on unity and reconciliation. MINUBUMWE reported that the twelfth cohort, which served from 13 January to 28 February 2025, drew over 69,000 young people who had finished secondary school in the 2023–24 school year, and that more than 559,000 people had taken part since the programme was relaunched in 2013.
Several African states created national service schemes soon after independence or after a conflict. Compare five:
| Country and scheme | Began | Who serves | Compulsory? | Main stated purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tanzania: Jeshi la Kujenga Taifa (JKT, "nation-building army") | 10 July 1963 | Young people, under the defence ministry | Has been compulsory for some groups, voluntary for others | Overcome the colonial legacy and ethnic and social divisions; patriotism; skills |
| Kenya: National Youth Service (NYS) | 1964 | Young volunteers who enlist | Voluntary | Discipline, skills training and public works |
| Nigeria: National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) | 1973 | University and polytechnic graduates aged 30 or under | Compulsory, 1 year | National unity after the civil war |
| Ghana: National Service Scheme (NSS) | 1973 | Graduates of tertiary institutions | Compulsory, 1 year | Development work and unity across regions |
| Rwanda: Urugerero | 2013 (relaunched) | Secondary-school leavers | Expected of school leavers, non-residential | Civic values, unity and community development |
Three trends stand out. First, post-conflict states reach for national service to rebuild unity: Nigeria after its civil war, Rwanda after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Second, in Africa the trend has been from military to civilian service: Tanzania's JKT is military in form, while Nigeria, Ghana and Rwanda put graduates and school leavers into teaching, building and health work. Third, schemes differ most in who is asked to serve: graduates (Nigeria, Ghana), school leavers (Rwanda), or all young men (Singapore). Choosing graduates uses their skills; choosing school leavers reaches a far larger share of each generation.
Warning
Keep the programmes distinct. Itorero is civic education (values and leadership training); Urugerero is the period of national service that puts those values into practice; Umuganda is the monthly community work that every adult does, studied in the next lesson. An answer that treats them as one thing loses marks.
Tip
Compare with criteria. For "compare national service in Rwanda with one other African country", use the columns of the table as your criteria: when it began, who serves, whether it is compulsory, and its purpose. Write one sentence of similarity and one of difference for each.
Important
Discuss. Nigeria and Ghana ask graduates to serve; Rwanda asks school leavers. Which group gains more from national service, and which group can give more to the community? Use evidence from the table and from Figure 2.
Practice
Sources and credits
Written by Ganzaa: Figure 2, the tables, the analysis and the exercises.
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
