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The Rwandan Woman: A Privileged African Woman?

31st March 2020

6 min read

In January 2015 during the 24th African Union Summit at the AU Headquarters Addis Ababa, former UN SG, Ban Ki-moon remarked that “Women must be at the centre of all our efforts. […] But women and girls cannot wait. Neither can Africa and the wider world. […] I […] strongly call on you, when it comes to women’s rights, to make a deep and lasting difference to the lives of African Women and girls by 2020.”

Before this, countless speeches had been delivered; national, continental and international agreements had been signed albeit there has not been much to show for. The situation of the woman and the girl child has rather gone worse or at best, remained stunted.

According to the Inter-parliamentary Union IPU, only 24.3% of Parliamentarians are women globally. https://www.ipu.org/our-impact/gender-equality

However, every dark cloud is found a silver lining. For a while now, Rwanda has been the global leader in this sector of women’s participation in political life and decision making organs. As of September 1, 2019, Rwanda has 61.25% which is the highest percentage of women in national parliaments in the world. Rwanda is closely followed by Cuba (53.22%) and Bolivia (53.08%). In the Afrikan continent, Rwanda is followed by Namibia (46.15%), South Africa (45.98%) and Senegal (41.84%). https://data.ipu.org/women-ranking?month=9&year=2019

From its maiden classification in January 1997, Rwanda ranked 24th with 12 women in a 70 member parliament with a percentage of 17.1%. http://archive.ipu.org/wmn-e/arc/classif010197.htm

According to the IPU, there are 49 women out of 80 Deputies in the Rwandan Chamber of Deputies, making a percentage of 61.25% women representation. While in The Rwandan Senate, there are 10 women out of 26 Senators making a percentage of 38.46% women representation.

This article will be focusing on Rwanda. It will attempt an understanding into how in 22 years, Rwanda successfully navigated from the 24th to the 1st position. This is not a fruit of coincidence but intentional consistent efforts and determination.

President Kagame through his political party RPF-INKOTANYI and successive cabinets since rising to power after stopping the genocide against the Tutsis in 1994 has opted for inclusive development policy-making gender equality, women and youth empowerment his priorities.

President Kagame spares no space to preach and remind his women folks to take full advantage of the reigning environment and empowerment facilities for the benefit of themselves, their families, communities, and country. He neither fails to beseech them not to condone any acts from the men or their communities that are obstacles to their fulfillment as able stakeholders and partners of national development.

What makes Rwanda particularly outstanding is that they’ve long gone beyond the rhetoric of talking the walk to walking the talk.

Unlike most countries especially in Africa who use women and the women wings/leagues of their political parties as songbirds, ushers, dancers, entertainers, and welfare personnel in rallies and as a smokescreen justification for women empowerment, Rwanda encourages their women to actively participate both in public and private life as fully competent and equal players as their male counterparts.

THE RWANDAN WOMAN: A DECISION-MAKER

The Rwandan Constitution and laws provide for a minimum of 30% women representation in all sectors or public governance. Upholding and ensuring the “…equality of all Rwandans and between men and women which is affirmed by women occupying at least thirty percent (30%) of positions in decision- making organs.” is one of the main functions of the Senate in line with Articles 84 and 10(4) of the Rwandan Constitution of 2003 modified in 2015.

Article 75 of the same Constitution provides that, The Chamber of Deputies is composed of eighty (80) Deputies originating and elected from the following categories:

 53 Deputies elected by direct universal suffrage based on proportional representation;

 24 women elected by specific electoral colleges;

 02 Deputies elected by the National Youth Council;

 01 Deputy elected by the National Council of Persons with Disabilities.

Article 75 para 3 of the Constitution further provides that, “At least thirty percent

(30%) of Deputies must be women.”

Also, according to Article 80 of the Constitution, The Senate is composed of 26

Senators elected or appointed as follows:

 12 elected by specific electoral colleges;

 08 Senators appointed by the President of the Republic,

 04 Senators designated by the National Consultative Forum of Political Organizations;

 02 academicians or researchers each from Public and Private higher institutions of learning.

Though in the case of The Senate there is no specific mention of a quota for women as with the Chamber of Deputies, the Constitution precisely in Article 80 para 6 and 7 that, “The organs responsible for the nomination of Senators take into account national unity and the principle of gender equality. At least thirty percent (30%) of elected and appointed Senators must be women.”

There is a tendency for foreigners to think that women’s empowerment culture is limited to Parliament. Interestingly enough, that’s just one of the indicators. There exist several other significant programs and policies currently implemented for the continuous empowerment of the Rwandan woman.

THE RWANDAN WOMAN: AN EQUAL PARTNER IN DEVELOPMENT

According to Article 16 of the Constitution, “All Rwandans are born and remain equal in rights and freedoms. Discrimination of any kind or its propaganda based on, inter alia, ethnic origin, family or ancestry, clan, skin colour or race, sex, region, economic categories, religion or faith, opinion, fortune, cultural differences, language, economic status, physical or mental disability or any other form of discrimination is prohibited and punishable by law.”

In line with this constitutional provision, a National Gender Policy was adopted in 2010 with an overall goal to promote gender equality and equity in Rwanda through a clearly defined process for mainstreaming gender needs and concerns across all sectors of development. The Policy also defines the institutional framework and mechanisms within which gender equality and equity policies and programs will be designed, implemented, monitored, evaluated and coordinated. It will thus guide the integration of a gender perspective into all sectors and institutions. https://migeprof.gov.rw/fileadmin/_migrated/content_uploads/National_Gender_Policy-2.pdf

Worthy of note is the fact that Kagame’s current Cabinet is 50% made of women as they lead 13 out of 26 Ministries. https://www.newtimes.co.rw/news/kagame-reshuffles- cabinet

Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion with the mission to guarantee a secure environment for all family members; empower women and girls; promote non- discrimination, complementarity and gender equality; design and implement positive masculinity; eradicate gender-based violence and reinforce family unity and positive parenting. https://migeprof.gov.rw/index.php?id=186

National Women’s Council with a mission to build women’s capacity and ensure their participation in national development through advocacy and social mobilisation. https://www.cnf.gov.rw/index.php?id=10

Gender Monitoring Office with a mission to effectively monitor gender mainstreaming and the fight against GBV/Injustices in public, private, civil society, and religious institutions to achieve gender equality in Rwanda. https://gmo.gov.rw/index.php?id=554

Law Nº27/2016 of 08/07/2016 governing Matrimonial Regimes, Donations and Successions ensures the equality of spouses regarding property and succession rights according to their matrimonial regime. It also ensures equal treatment of all children without gender discrimination in matters of succession and donation. Spouses are entitled to equal rights and obligations at the time of marriage, during the marriage and at the time of divorce.

The National Land Policy and Law N° 43/2013 of 16/06/2013 Governing Land in Rwanda make Land a common heritage of all the Rwandan people and prohibits all forms of discrimination, such as that based on sex or origin, concerning access to land and the enjoyment of real rights.

Law Nº 68/2018 of 30/08/2018 determining Offences and Penalties, in General, incriminates acts such as rape, adultery, sexual violence against a spouse, concubinage, harassment of a spouse and fraudulent use of the family property.

Law Nº 59/2008 on the Prevention and Punishment of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) prevents and punishes Gender-Based Violence Crimes in all of its forms.

Law N° 13/2009 of 27/05/2009 regulating Labour in Rwanda guarantees equal employment opportunities and equal pay for women and men and prohibits sexual harassment in the workplace.

Lastly, contrary to most Afrikan communities where polygamy (only favourable to the man) is permitted, a civil monogamous marriage between a man and a woman is the only recognized marital union in Rwanda according to Article 17 para 2 of the Constitution.

CONCLUSION

With this legal and sociocultural setup, it is more than evident why Rwanda is the Pope of the women empowerment gospel. The current achievements are enough evidence that unlike many other countries the world over, a few countries like Rwanda do not just pay lip service to their domestic aspirations and international engagements in the domain of women empowerment but live even beyond their expectations.

Nevertheless, observably, the Rwandan National Gender Policy is yet to register a corresponding impact in the military and law enforcement sectors. Ironically too, two of the most popular political opponents of the Kagame regime are women and their recent prosecutions have been seen by outsiders as a strategy to quell dissent.

As to whether this allegation is true or not, it must be vehemently noted that the women’s empowerment strides of the Kagame regime are commendable and worthy of reference.