Rwandan Presidents promulgates new constitution

Kigali- Rwanda (PANA) -- Rwandan President Paul Kagame on Wednesday promulgated the new constitution at a solemn ceremony held in Kigali.
"I hereby officially promulgate the constitution of the Republic of Rwanda which was voted during the referendum of 26 May 2003," Kagame declared in a speech shortly after he had signed the three versions of the basic law in Kinyarwanda, French and English, the country's official languages.
Kagame's speech came after the minister of justice, Jean de Dieu Mucyo had placed the seal of the republic on top of them.
The promulgation of the new constitution officially marks the end of the transitional political period, which was installed by the current government on 19 July 1994.
However, Kagame recalled that the existing transitional institutions, particularly the parliament and cabinet will continue until the installation of new ones envisaged under the new constitution, which will be created after elections to be held towards the end of the year.
The news constitutions lays stress on the need to prevent genocide, combating ethnic division, installing the rule of law, peaceful resolution of conflicts, promoting equality among all Rwandans and power sharing between a semi-presidential and a two-chamber National Assembly.
According to results proclaimed by the Supreme Court in Kigali Tuesday, 92.
42 percent of Rwandan voters endorsed the new constitution during the referendum held on 26 May.
The new constitution replaces the basic law, which has been applied for the nine-year transition period and is a blend of the 1991 Rwandan constitution, the political declaration issued by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) after its military victory in Kigali on 4 July 1994.
Some of its clauses were also drawn from the power sharing document that the RPF signed on 19 July with seven political parties that were not involved in the April-July genocide of that year.