Did you know you are sacred, inviolable?

Fred and Peter were in a heated argument. Fred was insistently accusing Peter of stealing his lunch money. Fred said to Peter: “It cannot be a coincidence that on the day I lose Rwf2000, you happen to have Rwf2000. You never have any money.”

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Fred and Peter were in a heated argument. Fred was insistently accusing Peter of stealing his lunch money. Fred said to Peter: "It cannot be a coincidence that on the day I lose Rwf2000, you happen to have Rwf2000. You never have any money.”

Peter replied, "Oh don’t be condescending. The bank prints more than one Rwf2000 note.”

So they argued back and forth and as they did, their voices got louder and their tempers got hot. In the heat of the argument, Peter dipped his hand in a pile of mud and aimed for Fred’s face. He didn’t miss.

Just then, the police showed up.  Peter was picked up. He spent ten days behind bars. Just for throwing mud at Fred? Yes, yes.

You see, what Peter clearly didn’t know or maybe forgot or disregarded in a moment of anger is that article 10 of the national constitution says: "The human person is sacred and inviolable. The state and all public administration organs have the absolute obligation to respect, protect and defend him or her.”

Sacred is a heavy word, isn’t it? If something is sacred, it is to be regarded with utmost respect. Therefore, you cannot violate, dishonor or assault (violate) any person under any circumstances for any reason.

Well, Peter spent ten days in the coolers because by throwing mud at Fred, he had violated him. Moreover, it is specifically criminal to dirty another person. 

According to article 161 of the penal code, any person who, recklessly, throws anything likely to disturb or dirty another person shall be liable to a term of imprisonment of eight days to two months and a fine of 50,000 to 200,000 or one of these penalties.

Therefore, the next time someone violates your wellbeing in any way, don’t be afraid to inform law enforcers aka the police. At the same time, do not violate anyone. Do not throw things, do not beat them up, and definitely don’t kill them. Do no harm.

In case you always find it hard to control your actions when your temper rises, I’m going to leave you with this quote: "Anger doesn’t solve anything. It builds nothing but it can destroy everything.”