{Over sixty (60) Nigerian judges from Lagos in Nigeria who are in Rwanda for a retreat have applauded Rwanda’s judicial system of Gacaca and Abunzi developed as a home grown solution for disputes resolution. }
Justice Minister, Johnson Busingye on Monday at Gorilla Hotel Nyarutarama in Kigali enlightened the visiting judges how Rwanda dealt with judicial matters after the Genocide against the Tutsi.
“After the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, government at the time inherited a deeply scarred nation with no rule of law, where systems had been decimated and mistrust for the state reigned.” Minister Busingye said. “As Rwanda struggled to rebuild itself, restore the rule of law and security while giving hope to its people, it also faced the unprecedented difficulty of handling the massive numbers of genocide suspects and restoring dignity to survivors while honoring the memory of the dead.”
The Justice Minister highlighted how Gacaca was introduced to handle over 2 million cases which were waiting the courts of law and to foster reconciliation.
He added that after Gacaca winded up, Abunzi system was established to handle the new disputes in the society. The Abunzi sytem (mediation committees) is a bit similar to Gacaca.
Chief Judge of Lagos state, Ayo Tunde Phillips said that what they have seen and continue to see in Rwanda have given them a lot of lessons and would wish to borrow a leaf
RNA
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