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Public Holidays and Bank Holidays for Rwanda

The list of Rwanda bank holidays, national holidays and public holidays for 2008, comes from the Q++ Worldwide Public Holidays Database, the professional source of international public holidays long trusted by the world's foremost diary publishers. The information on this page is provided for private, non-professional, use. Qualified professionals can license data for 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and beyond. For details, please visit our licensing information page or

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Governing Law: Official public holidays in Rwanda are regulated by the Loi n° 51/2001 du 30 décembre 2001 (Labour Code) and specified by Presidential decrees, the most recent being the Arrêté présidentiel no 07/01 du 6 mars 1996 déterminant les jours fériés (Journal officiel, 1996-06-01, no 11, pp. 8-9), which abrogated the Arrêté présidentiel no 268/6/2 du 30 août 1973 déterminant les jours fériés. • Umuganda is a nation-wide community work programme implemented by the local government ministry, to keep the capital Kigali, and vicinity, clean. The community work is mandatory for every one, every last Saturday of the month, from 7am to noon. During Umuganda time, businesses close and no public transport operates in Rwanda. Actually no one is allowed to leave his/her neighborhood until noon, and defying this rule without an official authorization could lead to immediate arrest. Umuganda is performed countrywide and involves the participation of all; including the president, top government ministers and other high ranking government officials who put aside their formal attire to physically clean up the country. The local population also uses this as an opportunity to mingle with government officials and ask questions to key decision makers on policies that directly affect them on a day to day basis. • Genocide Memorial Day is part of Genocide Commemoration Week, which covers the 7 consecutive days from April 7 to 13 every year. Although not officially counted as public holidays, during these extra 6 days, the country is meant to stop and think about the 1994 genocide. Radio and Television stations, even privately owned ones, are only allowed to play programs relating to the genocide. In that context, many wealthy, and not so wealthy, Rwandans decide to spend the week abroad, and it might be difficult to meet with decision-makers. In any event, business entertainment during that period is out of the question. • International Women's Day is an important event in Rwanda but it is not a public holiday. • Other Sources of Information For information not covered here, see the following specialized websites: National Bank of Rwanda (Rwanda central bank), ASI Hot Spots (security-related world events: terrorist threats, political strife, strikes, criminal activity, aviation incidents and health outbreaks), CIA World Factbook (maps, demographic and economic statistics), Copp Clark (financial markets' trading hours, settlement holidays and currency non-clearing days), and the IFES Election Guide (information covering upcoming elections, referenda, electoral structures and past voter participation).

Observance : Any entry in the Observance column indicates that, in Rwanda, the holiday may be regional or non-official or limited to certain religious and/or linguistic groups, or begin at a time other than midnight. Note that religious holidays are included only if they are national public holidays, or if the national labour code has specific holiday allowances for employees of specific religions. For more information, see our pages on the religious calendars of the world. Aft=Afternoon, Arm=Armenian, Bah=Bahai, Bnk=Banks and most financial institutions, Bud=Buddhist, Cat=Catholic, Chr=Christian, Cop=Coptic, Eve=Evening, Gov=Government services and civil servants, Hin=Hindu, Jew=Jewish, Lin=Linguistic or ethnic groups, Mor=Morning, Mun=Municipal, Mus=Muslim, Orth=Orthodox, Othr=Miscellaneous partial observances (usually described in the Additional Information section of this page), Prt=Protestant, Reg=Regional, Rel=Other Religion, Sch=Schools and universities, Sik=Sikh.

Religious Holidays : Public holidays in Rwanda that are based on certain religious calendars may be subject to local variations due to differing interpretations between different religious authorities, or to seemingly arbitrary changes in the date a holiday is celebrated because it conflicts with another holiday that is based on another calendar, or because the day of the holiday is deemed inauspicious (bad luck). To find out more about these uncertainties, see the footnote below, if any, for each specific religion.

Muslim Holidays : Muslim bank holidays, legal holidays and public holidays for Rwanda were evaluated using the Umm al-Qura Calendar of Saudi Arabia which is used in Saudi Arabia and in most of the Persian Gulf States. Holidays may occur a day later in countries outside the Gulf region. The sunrises, sunsets, moon phases, moonrises and moonsets used in these calculations are based on the location of Mecca (latitude 21.42°N, longitude, 39.82°E, GMT+3 hours, no summer time rules). For more details on Muslim holidays, see Muslim Calendar Holidays. For Salat (prayer times) calculations, see our Freeware page.

Disclaimer
In many parts of the world, holidays are subject to arbitrary, last minute, changes by local authorities. While every effort has been made to present an accurate list of 2008 bank holidays, legal holidays and public holidays for Rwanda, we cannot accept any responsibility for any error or omission in the data presented above. You are therefore advised to verify the above dates with the embassy or consulate of Rwanda, before planning any trip to Rwanda. For last-minute updates to worldwide public holidays, visit our blog or subscribe to our free email newsletters.