The Cabinet on Wednesday asked President Paul Kagame to call a referendum for Rwandans to approve the recently revised Constitution of the country.

Apart from the presidential term limits, other changes have also been made to the Constitution, especially the term of office for senators and judges, as well as the mandate of the Senate.

The content of the Constitution was also organised to improve the flow of ideas and remove unnecessary details or provisions about outdated institutions such as Gacaca courts.

"We don’t have a new Constitution as such; we have a revised Constitution; which means that ideas in the current Constitution were organised, details removed, and a few new ideas added,” said a member of the Constitutional Review Commission, who asked not to be identified because they do not speak on behalf of the commission.

The commission was the technical team that was set up to help parliamentarians draft amendments to the Constitution.

Regarding the term of office for the Head of State, the revised Constitution reduced presidential term limits from seven to five years renewable once.

But the change will be preceded by one transitional presidential term of seven years for which any presidential candidates, including President Kagame, will be eligible.

Senators’ term in office was also reduced from eight years non-renewable to five years renewable once, except for those who are former Heads of State because they are not subject to term limits.

The term of office for the Chief Justice and Deputy Chief Justice was also reduced to five years renewable once, instead of eight years non-renewable.

An explanatory note by Parliament says the changes on the judges’ term of office were made to bring about conformity with terms of office of Heads of the High Court and Heads of the Commercial High Court who also have five years renewable once.

The mandates for the Prosecutor-General and the Deputy Prosecutor-General are also five years renewable once.

"There was need to have a harmonised mandate system for all senior leaders of the country,” said a legal expert.

Regarding the provision on the mandate of the Senate, its role on authorising the ratification of all international treaties and agreements was revised and restricted to only laws relating to peace treaties, international agreements and treaties on international organisations and those which modify provisions of national laws or which relate to the status of persons.

Other obligations of the Senate remained unchanged, hence senators remain competent to vote laws about the revision or amendment of the Constitution, organic laws, laws relating to international treaties and agreements concerning peace, the laws relating to defence and national security, among others.

Other new provisions in the Constitution include adding in its preamble the ideas reflecting awareness of the heroism of those who sacrificed themselves for the foundation of the country and restoration of national pride, as well as the emphasis on the right of Rwandans to determine the form of governance for their country and the need to safeguard national values.

The revised Constitution also has a part about transitional provisions that allow a transitional period for laws that will be amended in accordance with provisions of the revised Constitution and allows serving officials whose terms of office were changed to complete full time in office for which they were elected or appointed.

Prior to responding to the request from Cabinet to call a referendum on the revised Constitution, President Kagame will first have to seek advice from the Supreme Court as required by law.

There is no deadline within which the President has to call a referendum on the revised Constitution but the current Constitution says he will first seek advice from the Supreme Court before he decides.

Parliament initiated changes to the Constitution after more than 3.7 million Rwandans (59 per cent of eligible voters) had petitioned the House to review the law to allow President Kagame to continue leadership of the country beyond 2017 when his second term in office expires.

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