According to The New Times Rwanda by (published by Nasra Bishumba) after discussions to scrap all the country’s colonial-era laws began, parliament has passed a law scrapping over 1,000 pieces of the legislation said to be outdated.
“Rwanda was a colony of two countries: German (1900-1916), and Belgium between 1916-1962.”
Addressing members of the parliamentary committee on politics and gender in June this year during an assessment of the government’s proposal to abolish the laws, the State Minister for Constitutional and Legal Affairs, Evode Uwizeyimana said that it had been a ‘shame’ that Rwanda was being guided by colonial laws enacted within the interests of colonizers.
“There are not any legal loopholes which will emerge as a result of repealing them. These aren’t laws that we should always be pleased with keeping. We don’t see drag in repealing them,” he said.
Few of the scrapped laws
The legal instruments include a decree of July 22, 1930, that prohibited transfer on credit or for free of charge of all alcoholic beverages.
Under that law of 1930, alcoholic drinks consumed on the purpose of their sale had to be purchased at the bar and traders weren’t allowed to sell the alcoholic drinks on credit or provide them free of charge.
The colonial laws also include the one that made it possible for Catholic Church missionaries to accumulate such a lot of land for the Church and so far it’s still in its hands.
That massive land grab by the Church was made possible by a decree of January 24, 1943, on free assignments and concessions to scientific and non-secular associations and utility establishments by the Belgian government.
One of the decree stated that “under the terms of this order and subject to approval by Royal Order, the Governor-General may assign or freely grant to scientific, philanthropic or religious associations and to the institutions responsible of public-interest recognized by the law, up to 10 hectares of urban land and 200 hectares of rural land”.
The Minister of Justice, Johnston Busingye, told The New Times during an interview that this step finally means Rwandans can now be fully governed by the laws that they need to make themselves.
“Colonial laws were made for the colonial metropole, not for colonies. They were delivered to the colonies to be the legal framework to service the colonial state. This step finally means we are and can be governed by laws made by us for us,” Johnston Busingye.
The said laws were enacted between 1885 and 1962 when Rwanda obtained independence from Belgium.
