Kagame’s New Laws Are Hilarious — If You Mock A Rwandan Official’s Badge, Make Noise, Get Drunk, Or ”Humiliate” Kagame, You Go Straight To Prison😂

By David Himbara

We have a proverb in Kinyarwanda that says Akabi Gasekwa Nk’Akeza — meaning that even the unfortunate is sometimes laughable. And so it is with General Paul Kagame’s latest laws just gazetted as Law determining offenses and penalties in general. Some of the offenses are crude but so funny. You wonder if the authors of these laws were sane or sober during the drafting process. The most hilarious Kagame laws are about mocking a Rwandan official’s name tag, making noises, and getting drunk.😂 And as always, the new laws have Kagame as the center of the Rwandan universe. Making fun of him will land you in jail for up to seven years.

Here are the funniest new Kagame laws

By far, the most hilarious Kagame law has to be Article 232 about ”Disrespect of employment badges.”

”Any person who despises the employment badges adopted by the authority to indicate an official’s position, documents or other objects issued to ensure compliance with laws or administration commits an offence.

Article 194: If you write what the regime considers ”false information or harmful propaganda with intent to cause a hostile international opinion against Rwandan Government”, you will end up in prison for 7 years. Here is what Article 194 says:

”Any person who spreads false information or harmful propaganda with intent to cause public disaffection against the Government of Rwanda, or where such information or propaganda is likely or calculated to cause public disaffection or a hostile international environment against the Government of Rwanda commits an offense. Upon conviction, he/she is liable, in wartime, to a term of life imprisonment. In peacetime, he/she is liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than seven (7) years and not more than ten (10) years.”

Then there is Article 233 about ”the humiliation of national authorities and persons in charge of public service.”

”Any person who, verbally, by gestures or threats, in writings or cartoons, humiliates a member of Parliament when exercising his/her mandate, a member of the Cabinet, security officers or any other person in charge of a public service in the performance or in connection with the performance of his/her duties, commits an offence. Upon conviction, he/she is liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than one (1) year and less than two (2) years and a fine of not less than five hundred thousand Rwandan francs (FRW 500,000) and not more than one million(FRW 1,000,000) Rwandan francs.”

Article 236 is about ”insults or defamation against the President of the Republic” which fetches 5–7 years in prison:

”Any person who insults or defames the President of the Republic, commits an offence. Upon conviction, he/she is liable to a term imprisonment of not less than five (5) years and not more than seven (7) years and a fine of more than five million (FRW 5,000,000) Rwandan francs and not more than seven million (FRW 7,000,000) Rwandan francs.”

Article 267 is about ”noise nuisance.”

”Any person who, unjustly or without an authorization, makes noise likely to disturb public, commits an offence.

Lastly, we have Article 268 about ”public drunkenness”:

”Any person who is drunk in public, in the streets, squares, paths, bar, in a gymnasium or any other public places, commits an offence. Upon conviction, he/she is liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than eight (8) days but not more than two (2) months and a fine of not more than twenty thousand Rwandan francs (FRW 20,000) and not more than one hundred thousand Rwandan francs (FRW 100,000) or only one of the penalties.

If the bar operator and his/her staff accept to host any persons in a state of excessive drunkenness in their facility and serve them alcoholic beverages they are liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than eight (8) days and not more than two (2) months and a fine of not less than fifty thousand Rwandan francs (FRW 50,000) and not more than two hundred thousand Rwandan francs (FRW 200,000) or only one of the penalties.

Kagame’s new laws are instruments of an angry man. It says in the Bible, ”Do not make friends with an angry man, and do not associate with a hot-tempered man, or you may learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.” Regretably, the people of Rwanda have no choice. Their ruler is an angry man entangling everyone in a snare with little room for escape. But remember — Akabi gasekwa nk’akeza. Have some laughs. Remember also another Rwandan proverb Nta Mvura Idahita — even rain eventually stops. No dictatorship is permanent.