Punishing adultery will be tougher if proposed changes to the country’s Penal Code get the backing of Parliament, the Minister for Justice Johnston Busingye has said.

Busingye told Sunday Times on Friday that under the draft Penal Code approved by a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, adultery will remain a criminal offence punishable with imprisonment among other punishments even if the aggrieved  spouse forgives their partner.

The new amendment being proposed by the government is that forgiveness will not stop the prosecution process as has been the case since court will be given a prerogative to continue with the trial or stop it.

The move is aimed at protecting spouses who are offended, start criminal cases and come under family or societal duress, threats, blackmail, intimidation and other forms of pressure to forgive offending spouses to abandon the process.

The minister said that there have been cases where spouses, especially women, when they file a complaint and the suspect is taken in for prosecution, because there is a possibility for forgiveness, the family and the society around or friends use all sorts of pressure to compel the offended partner to forgive.

"We end up having spouses going to court to forgive when this forgiveness is not voluntary and actually forced and procured by influence that has been exerted on the spouse. So, we want it to be the prerogative of the judge to examine whether the forgiveness given is voluntary and without intimidation or blackmail,” he said.

At the moment, the penal code provides that if someone commits adultery, the offence, if proved, can be prosecuted, and the penalty is six months to one year in prison depending on what the judge decides.

The law currently provides that if the aggrieved spouse who has been wronged decides to stop the prosecution, then the cheating spouse is released.

"Our proposal is that the law should remain the way it is but the new thing we are adding is that if a spouse goes to court and says that they forgive their wife or husband, it’s not going to continue to be an absolute stop to prosecution as it has been,” Busingye said.

He said the move intends to protect Rwandan families, which the country’s laws see as the foundation of the nation and deserve to be protected by the state.

"We have a Constitution which makes family the basis of the Rwandan nation and which enjoins the state to protect the family and one of the protections of the family include trying to save it from destruction and one of the things that can destroy the family is adultery,” he said.

The government has approved a draft law that seeks to amend the country’s Penal Code, a step that now means the bill will be tabled in parliament so it can be passed into a law.

The legal document defining crimes and stipulating punishment – is being changed to make it more effective in deterring crime, punishing convicts, and rehabilitating offenders.

It will thus be amended to ensure that issues of drafting and clarity, current offenses and their penalties, as well as new offences in society that need to be penalised are addressed.

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