Six Principles, One Foundation: Meaning and Wording – Fundamental Principles of the Rwandan State (Senior 6 History (Languages)) | Ganzaa

Fundamental Principles of the Rwandan State

Lessons

Senior 6 · History (Languages)

Fundamental Principles of the Rwandan State

4 lessons

Lesson 1 of 4

Six Principles, One Foundation: Meaning and Wording

20 min

Three proposals that would not survive

Picture three proposals reaching a district council in Rwanda in the same week:

A youth association asks to be registered. Its rules say only people born in one province may join.
A party that has just won most seats in the Chamber of Deputies says it should now fill every Cabinet post with its own members.
A new district committee of ten people is announced. One member is a woman.

None of the three is a crime in the ordinary sense, yet each one clashes with the Constitution. The reason is not a single law about youth clubs, Cabinets or committees. It is a short list of six fundamental principles that every institution and every citizen must respect. This lesson reads that list closely, so that you can say which principle each proposal breaks.

Definition

Fundamental principle: a basic rule that a state commits itself to in its constitution and that guides all its laws, institutions and policies. It is broader than a single law: laws are made to carry principles out, and a law that contradicts them can be struck down.

Example: the principle of equitable power-sharing is carried out by the rule that the President of the Republic and the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies cannot come from the same political organisation (Article 62).

The source: Article 10

Rwanda's Constitution of 2003, revised in 2015 and again in 2023, sets out the principles in Article 10. The State "commits itself to upholding and ensuring respect for" six principles. The wording below is quoted from the official English text of 2023.

Letter	Wording in Article 10	The idea in a few words
(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"	Never again: prevent, punish, refuse denial
(b)	"eradication of discrimination and divisionism based on ethnicity, region or any other ground, as well as promotion of national unity"	One people, no division
(c)	"equitable power-sharing"	No winner takes all
(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"	Law above rulers; many parties; equal citizens; women at least 30%
(e)	"building a State committed to promoting social welfare and establishing appropriate mechanisms for equal opportunity to social justice"	Care for the needy; fair chances
(f)	"constant quest for solutions through dialogue and consensus"	Talk until agreement

Notice that principle (d) bundles four ideas together: the rule of law, pluralist democracy, equality of citizens, and gender equality with a 30% floor. Examiners often reward a candidate who separates them.

Figure 1. If any one pillar is removed, the roof is no longer safe. Each principle supports the others: unity is hard to build without justice, and power-sharing means little without the rule of law.

Principles, rights and duties are not the same thing

The Constitution uses three different tools, and you should keep them apart.

Principles (Chapter III, Article 10) describe what kind of state Rwanda must be. They bind the State as a whole.
Rights and freedoms (Chapter IV) belong to each person, for example equality before the law (Article 15).
Duties (Chapter V, "Duties of the State and of citizens", Articles 44 to 53) are what the State and citizens owe: respect for State property, participation in the development of the country, respect for the Constitution and other laws, care for needy survivors of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and for persons with disabilities, preservation of memorial sites and protection of the environment.

Right after the principles, Article 11 adds that Rwandan culture is a source of home-grown solutions. That is why institutions such as the Abunzi mediation committees (Article 142), which conciliate "parties in conflict with the aim of consolidating unity and peaceful co-existence", belong naturally beside principle (f).

Back to the three proposals

A club closed to all but one province is discrimination on the ground of region: principle (b).
A majority party taking every Cabinet post breaks equitable power-sharing, principle (c). Article 62 says a party holding the majority in the Chamber of Deputies cannot have more than 50% of Cabinet members.
One woman out of ten is 10%, below the floor of at least 30% in principle (d).

Warning

Common mistakes

Writing "unity and reconciliation" or "patriotism" as a principle. The national motto (Unity, Work, Patriotism) is a different thing from Article 10.
Treating 30% as a quota that must not be exceeded. It is a minimum: "at least 30%".
Listing rights such as freedom of expression when the question asks for principles.

Tip

Exam technique. For a "state and explain" question, give each principle three parts: its letter and key phrase, what it means in plain words, and one law, article or institution that carries it out. Six principles × three parts is a full-mark answer plan.

Important

Discuss. Principle (f) asks for "solutions through dialogue and consensus", while principle (d) asks for a "pluralistic democratic government". Can a country have both strong consensus and real disagreement between parties? Prepare one argument that they support each other and one that they pull in different directions.

✦

Practice

Define a fundamental principle and explain how it differs from an ordinary law.
List the six fundamental principles of the Rwandan State in the order of Article 10.
Principle (d) contains four separate ideas. Name them.
A sector council of 12 members has 3 women. Does it meet the rule in principle (d)? Show your working.
Explain the difference between a principle and a duty, with one example of each from the Constitution.
A newspaper column argues that people from one region are "natural leaders" and should hold the top offices. Which two principles does it go against? Explain.

Show answersHide answers

A basic rule the State commits itself to in the Constitution, which guides all laws, institutions and policies. An ordinary law deals with one matter and must itself conform to the principles.
(a) fight against genocide, its denial and ideology; (b) eradication of discrimination and divisionism and promotion of national unity; (c) equitable power-sharing; (d) rule of law, pluralistic democracy, equality of all Rwandans and of women and men, with women at least 30% in decision-making organs; (e) social welfare and social justice; (f) solutions through dialogue and consensus.
The rule of law; pluralistic democratic government; equality of all Rwandans; equality between women and men (at least 30% women in decision-making organs).
3 out of 12 = 25%, which is below 30%, so it does not meet the minimum. At least 4 women would be needed (4 out of 12 ≈ 33%).
A principle binds the State as a whole, e.g. equitable power-sharing (Article 10 (c)). A duty is something the State or a citizen owes, e.g. respect for the Constitution and other laws (Article 49).
Principle (b), because it divides people by region, and principle (c), because it would deny equitable power-sharing. A good answer may also cite (d), equality of all Rwandans.

Sources and credits

Quotations from Articles 10, 62 and 142, and the titles of Articles 11 and 44 to 53, from the Constitution of the Republic of Rwanda of 2003 revised in 2015, as revised in 2023, official English text, Official Gazette special issue of 4 August 2023, Republic of Rwanda (copy hosted by MINECOFIN). Quoted word for word.

Written by Ganzaa: the scenarios, the diagram, the analysis and the exercises.

1Three proposals that would not survive

2The source: Article 10

3Principles, rights and duties are not the same thing

4Back to the three proposals

Three proposals that would not survive

The source: Article 10

Principles, rights and duties are not the same thing

Back to the three proposals