MPs review role of guardians

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Political Affairs and Gender has set new guidelines to follow while taking guardianship of minors.The lawmakers brought the matter to light on Monday whilereviewing the Persons and Family Bill which seeks to amend the 1988 law to align it with the Constitution, the Penal Code, currentrealities, and the country’s policy on gender equality.According to the Bill, guardianship means ensuring the protection of a minor deprived of their parents, administration of their property and exercise of their civil rights.“There are children whose parents left them with property, theguardian has no right to sell the property without authorisation from the Guardianship Council,” said the committee chair Alfred Rwasa Kayiranga.The review of the guardianship section in the Bill was also attended by two MPs, Rose Mukantabana and Edda Mukabagwiza who are not membersof the committee.The guardianship section partly stipulates that the custodian of the child can use income generated from the children’s property to take care of their education.However, Mukabagwiza, a former Justice minister, proposed that the scope should be expanded to include all aspects of the children’s welfare. In a related development, Mukantabana told the committee that legally, guardianship is an individual responsibility and not a responsibly of the entire family.“If the guardian is married, they should not use family earnings to take care of the assumed child. The reason behind this is to ensure that the other partner is not bothered by guardianship responsibilities they do not want,” she said.According to the Bill, a guardian must be an adult of at least 21 years, of importance to the minor and whose moral integrity guarantees the minor’s good upbringing. Guardianship is granted to a foster home when a minor has been residing there for at least two years on a permanent basis.However, a child above 12 years of age has a right to oppose the guardianship.Emancipation of a minorAccording to Article 131 of the Bill, a minor may be emancipated for justified reasons by his father or mother if they have attained 16 years of age.Emancipation of minors is a legal mechanism by which a minor is freed from control by their parents or guardians, and the parents or guardians are freed from all responsibility towards the child.Until emancipation is granted, a minor is still subject to the rules of their parents or guardians. In this case, the Bill grants the civil status registrar powers to authorise emancipation.MP Ignattienne Nyirarukundo questioned the circumstances under which a parent can request for emancipation of their biological children.Lambert Dushimimana, a legal officer with the Ministry of Justice who is defending the Bill before the committee, said it can be done in situations where a parent is disabled and wants the child to run some errands that require someone to be an adult.“There are also situations where a parent is too old to conduct some responsibilities and in that case they may emancipate their 16-year-old child,” he said.Former Speaker Mukantabana also backed the idea, saying a parent might send their child abroad for study and while there, the child may need to find accommodation, do some bank transactions and others. “In that case, a parent has to secure a document indicating that the child is emancipated,” Mukantabana observed.

National

MPs review role of guardians