The concept of ubunywarwanda from a legal & historical perspective.

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Rwandans have existed for centuries. After deciding to have a common country, they distinguished themselves from other kingdoms and became abanyarwanda. Through the expansion of the territory, different clans joined the country and also became abanyarwanda. To have a country requires a territory, people and a name. As any other project it requires people to move it forward. Those people who got a sovereign territory establish rules that govern them in their territory. Through those rules and laws, they decide how outsiders might be integrated in their society. The time of conquering territories has ended, but conquering minds and hearts has never stopped. In those outsiders who may want to be in the society here we mean a country they follow laws established so as to be accepted. A country not only expands territorially but also in population size.

Before independence Rwanda had never had any regulation on nationality as society was divided into known clans. The Belgians did not leave behind any transitional framework to determine who would be considered Rwandan after their departure. Shortly after its independence, Rwanda enacted its first Nationality Code, which was modelled On the Belgian Code de la nationalité. Under this law: Rwandan nationality was divided into two categories: nationality of origin, attributed at birth by law, and nationality acquired through application later in life. Nationality of origin was based on descent and only transmitted by the father. For a child born out of wedlock, he or she could take her mother’s Rwandan nationality only if the father was unknown or stateless. The law of 1963 also provided for the adoption of an adult person so long as the adoptee renounced his nationality of origin in favour of being Rwandan. As in the Belgian Code de nationalité, naturalisation could be granted following parliamentary approval and through a presidential decree. The conditions to be met included ten years of legal residence in Rwanda, or abroad if in service for Rwanda or for study. This period could be shortened to five years for those who had provided exceptional services to Rwanda. Other conditions included good character and good physical and mental health, assimilation into the national community including knowledge of the language, practising an activity of interest to Rwanda and renunciation of a previous nationality.[1]

Today laws also give us guidelines on different aspects in our daily lives as Rwandans including the title of being Rwandan and how to be one. Starting from the supreme law of the land, in article 25, on Right to a homeland and Nationality; it provides that, every Rwandan has the right to his or her homeland. No Rwandan can be banished from his or her homeland. Every Rwandan has the right to Rwandan nationality. No one can be deprived of Rwandan nationality of origin.[2]

The Rwandan nationality legal regime also comprises a set of international and regional instruments to which Rwanda is a party. These include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (ICRMW). In 2006, Rwanda acceded to the two treaties on statelessness: the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (CSSP) and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (CRS).[3]

Before going further lets first understand some keywords so as to discover more about the concept of Rwandan nationality.  According to article 2 of the ORGANIC LAW N° 002/2021.OL OF 16/07/2021 GOVERNING RWANDAN NATIONALITY, defines these keywords as follows; Rwandan origin: a relationship linking a person to Rwanda as a result of having one parent of Rwandan origin; Rwandan nationality; it is a relationship between an individual and Rwanda resulting from being of Rwandan nationality by origin or by acquisition; Rwandan nationality by acquisition; Rwandan nationality resulting from being a Rwandan through acquisition as provided for by this Organic Law; Rwandan nationality by origin: Rwandan nationality resulting from being born to at least one parent who is a Rwandan national by origin. [4] Article 3 shows that Rwandan nationality in in two categories mainly Rwandan nationality by origin and, Rwandan nationality by acquisition.[5]

The right to a nationality is a fundamental human right. It implies the right of each individual to acquire, change and retain a nationality. International law provides that the right of States to decide who their nationals are is not absolute and, in particular, States must comply with their human rights obligations concerning the granting and loss of nationality. If a person does not have a nationality, it may be impossible for them to go to school, see a doctor, get a job, open a bank account, or even get married. Millions of people around the world are in this situation; they are 'stateless'.[6] Rwanda by putting in place the law governing Rwandan nationality addressed the issue.

A person born in Rwanda of parents who were legal residents at time of his or her birth may apply for nationality at majority. An adult may also apply for Rwandan nationality based on at least 15 years legal residence in Rwanda (an increase from the five years previously required), while a separate provision provides for a person to be able to apply for nationality on the grounds that he or she “immigrated to Rwanda for social, political or economic reasons” (or is the descendant of such a person) and has been resident at least 25 years, and has “lost connection to his or her country of origin”. The husband or wife of a Rwandan national may apply for nationality after five years of marriage. In all these cases additional conditions include good conduct, knowledge of Rwandan culture and traditions, sufficient means, and not posing a threat to national security.[7]

Being umunyarwanda it is not only a matter of nationality but also a connection and a relationship of all Rwandans around the globe. I have cousins, aunties and uncles in different countries, DRCongo, USA, Canada and France. The family stories we share makes the relationship alive again and it reflets on their roots which is Rwanda. Some are still Rwandans by nationality others are not. Rwanda recognizes dual nationality, a status in which a person concurrently holds Rwandan nationality and the nationality of one or multiple States.[8]

Due to historical events, there are some Rwandophones confused to be Rwandans in the region. Starting from DRC, following the Berlin conference that partitioned Africa in 1884, the territory[9] of Rwanda was reduced from 168,606 Km2 to 26,338 Km2. 124, 553 Km2 were attached to the DRC and 17,715 Km2 were attached to Uganda. Therefore, Kinyarwanda-speaking people found themselves in different countries in the Great Lakes Region, including the DRC.  In 1908, the need for more labor force in Kivu plantations and mines led to a mass organized migration of Rwandophones to North Kivu, particularly the Masisi territory in the DRC, especially between 1920 and 1955. After the independence of the DRC, Congolese authorities started considering Rwandophones as foreigners. This led to the “Guerre Kanyarwanda”, a conflict for land autonomy.  Rwandophones (Tutsi and Hutu) fought against other ethnic groups, such as Nande, Hunde, and Nyanga, in the region.  The Congolese army responded with systematic killings of Rwandophones in the Masisi region. Over time, different laws on nationality were passed to strip Rwandophones of congolese nationality. In particular, the 1981 citizenship bill restricted nationality to those who could prove their ancestors lived in Zaire (currently known as DRC) before 1885. In the 1980s, President Habyarimana of Rwanda and President Mobutu of Zaire organized the migration of Hutus into Masisi through what was known as “transplantation”, intending to undermine the growing land control by Tutsis in Masisi, North-Kivu.

Another country linked to Rwandophones is Uganda. Banyarwanda are listed among the indigenous groups, many of them settled in Uganda after 1926 or do not have documented proof of their grandparents’ residence in Uganda. Banyarwanda have lived in Uganda for centuries. At the time, when there were no colonial borders, parts of present-day Uganda were ruled by Rwandan kings. During the colonial period, Rwandans crossed into Uganda from the 1930s to work as casual labourers in coffee plantations in the Buganda kingdom. There was a large influx of Rwandans, mainly Tutsi, in the 1950s due to ethnic tensions that pitted the Tutsi against Hutu. A population census conducted in the British protectorate of Uganda in 1959 listed the Banyarwanda as the sixth largest ethnic group, according to a paper by Edgar Mwine that was published by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Uganda. The Banyarwanda are listed among the 65 indigenous groups. The constitution further states that parents or grandparents of citizens by birth must have been resident within the state of Uganda as of 1 February 1926 when the country’s borders were finalized.[10]

Even nowadays Banyarwanda in Uganda faces challenges of beings recognized as citizens of Uganda. This year in particular, on Tuesday, 16 April 2024, Ugandan-Banyarwanda community petitions Parliament over segregation. Even though they are recognized by the constitution as an indigenous tribe, the National Identity Registration Authority (NIRA) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs have denied them the right to possess Ugandan citizenship documents. Many have been denied jobs, lost opportunities to study abroad and had complications in movements across the borders. Many Ugandan-Banyarwanda have returned from abroad for either study or work to renew their passports, acquire or renew their national identity cards and have been told that they do not qualify for Ugandan passport or national identity cards. At times this has led to loss of jobs or study opportunities for these persons. They asked the parliament and concerned institutions to give them identity card and passports based on their recognition in the 1995 Constitution.[11]

The presence of Banyarwanda in the region is deeply rooted in the history. For several centuries the Kingdom of Rwanda and that of Bashi have been in cooperation and[12] sometimes in wars and reconciliation. The Kingdom of Bashi had colonized Rwanda for 12 years and the renowned warrior King of Rwanda, Rwabugiri, took revenge and besieged the Kingdom of Bashi for several years, these movements were accompanied by commercial exchanges, civilizations, ethnic mixing , linguistics and exchanges of techniques for metal forging, agriculture and breeding, working with animal skins, processing of dairy products and food conservation (granaries). 

Under King Gahindiro in Rwanda at the end of the 17th century following a palace conflict, one of the aristocratic clans of the time fled the threats of the King to take refuge in Congo under the protection of the King of the bashi who installed these immigrants Rwandans in the fizi plateaus to graze their cows, following the heat and the tsetse fly of the swamps these Banyarwanda people settled in the cold towards the high plateaus of Mulenge, Minembwe etc. These centuries-old Banyarwanda immigrants will become Banyamulenges. After the First World War around 1918, Germany lost its colonies of Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania to Belgium for the first two and to England for Tanzania. The Belgian settler managed Congo-Belgian-Rwanda-Urundi as an administratively and economically integrated entity, police officers, Congolese workers were introduced into Rwanda and Burundi and Rwandan and Burundian labor transplanted into the mines in Katanga, student and religious exchanges between Kisantu-Astrida-Bujumbura and elsewhere are quite frequent. The Zone of Rutshuru, Munigi, Masisi, Bwisha were before the Belgian colony under the control of customary chiefs and people of Kinyarwanda expression (Tutsi, Hutu, Twa) subject to the Rwandan sovereign, the Mwami (King). The tracing of colonial borders divided the Banyarwanda peoples into the DRC, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi where they are called banyabwisha, bafumbira, baha, Banyarwanda etc. There are more populations of Rwandan culture and language in neighboring countries as well as indigenous people than in Rwanda. Sometimes these populations are discriminated against or stigmatized for their origin in terms of land and political rights confused with refugees from the cyclical unrest in Rwanda in 1959, 1963, 1973 and 1994.

In Kenya, Kinyarwanda-speaking Kenyans appealed for naturalization after 70 years of statelessness.[13] This is another example of the effects of colonialism in shaping the problem of nationality where some people lost the right to have nationality due to not being recognized. This is another story of Rwandophones who struggled to be recognized as citizen in the country of Kenya. Grandparents and parents of an estimated 500 Rwandans were moved from mother land to Kenya by the British colonial administration in 1940’s to work mostly in tea plantations in Kericho county and other parts of Kenya. In 1945, these Rwandans were granted Kenyan citizenship and subsequently given Kenyan national identity cards. Later in 1975, the national identity cards were replaced by three-month renewable foreigner identification cards. This applied to other foreign nationalities that came under the same arrangement. Efforts to regain citizenship status have since proved futile. Some members of the community had to live under falsified identities for them to be able to get employment or send their children to school. They narrated how hard it is for them to run any long-term investment like acquiring land or property. Political will and legal guaranty is the sustainable way of solving nationally problems. On top of that, seeing what East African community wants to achieve in particular, political union, the journey will be longer if we don’t have a spirit of nationalism and willing to move forward as Rwanda did.

On the question of Banyarwanda in Tanzania, Prof.  Charles GASARASI, described it in this following way. There are six categories of Banyarwanda who settled in Tanzania for different reasons: Some individual families which fled the country after falling out with traditional rulers. particularly chiefs. mainly in the 1920s and 1930s. People who fled colonial harshness e.g. forced labor. flogging. taxes. etc. Refugees of 1959 through the 1960s and 1970s. Most of these were placed in formal rural refugee settlements in Kagera, Tabora and Rukwa regions of Tanzania. Economic migrants of the late 1970s-early 1980s under the Habyarimana regime. The massive wave of the 1994 refugees. Most of these were repatriate en masse" in 1996. There were remnants after this mass repatriation and their numbers grew as new refugees fled Rwanda subsequently. Their numbers reached a high of 23.677 by the time their repatriation was completed in 2003.[14] Colonial reasons, refugee problems and migration shaped regional problem of Banyarwanda nationality.

Rwanda provided a solution through the fifth paragraph of article 25 of the CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF RWANDA, it stipulates that, all persons of Rwandan origin and their descendants are, upon request, entitled to Rwandan nationality.[15] This gives the opportunity to any munyarwanda willing to live in Rwanda upon request to be entitled to Rwandan nationality.

As a way to move forward, and leave behind scars from history, in 2013 Ndi Umunyarwanda programme was initiated, with an ultimate goal of building a national identity and to foster a Rwandan community that is based on trust and unity.[16] Being aware of the history and its consequences the concept of ubunyarwanda was given a new direction. Rwanda is open to everyone willing to be umunyarwanda. Ways have been established it’s up to the individual willingness and fulfill the requerements. The law governing Rwandan nationality, embodies the solution of any question of Rwandan nationality.

To be umunyarwanda is a privilege to those with that title. Some have lost it and regained it through struggle, some were given it due to request.  Nationality is still a problem of debate in different parts of Africa. Currently, in the region especially the Democratic Republic of Congo, they haven’t learned a lesson of embracing the historical reality and move on. The nationality and origin of a person are totally different. Rwanda is an example of using nationality as a way to reshape society and move in a positive future. And as we have seen in Uganda, nationality of Rwandophones is still in question. Being umunyarwanda was reshaped legally, while recognizing historical realities and looking forward to have a better Rwanda.


[2] Official Gazette n° Special of 04/08/2023 CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF RWANDA, article 25

[4] Official Gazette n° Special of 28/07/2021 ORGANIC LAW No 002/2021.OL OF16/07/2021 GOVERNING RWANDAN

NATIONALITY, article 2

[5] Official Gazette n° Special of 28/07/2021 ORGANIC LAW No 002/2021.OL OF16/07/2021 GOVERNING RWANDAN

NATIONALITY article 3

[7] https://citizenshiprightsafrica.org/region/rwanda/  See also article 16, 18 LAW No 002/2021.OL OF16/07/2021 GOVERNING RWANDAN NATIONALITY

[8] Official Gazette n° Special of 28/07/2021 ORGANIC LAW No 002/2021.OL OF16/07/2021 GOVERNING RWANDAN

NATIONALITY, article 45.

[15] Official Gazette n° Special of 04/08/2023 CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF RWANDA, article 25 Paragraph 5

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