The proposals, which was developed by the civil society to address the plight of workers in informal sector is already before the Cabinet.

According to 1980 labour law, the minimum wage is capped at Rwf100 for those working in formal sector.

The pay, experts and government official say, is below international standards as set by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Office of the Prime Minister has already gazetted the long awaited labour law which had been passed by parliament to address loopholes in the existing law regarding minimum wage, child labour and non-occupational safety and health.

The new law is also expected to address grounds of dismissals especially for workers who were injured at work; authority and powers to terminate contracts of services without a prior notice in case of gross misconduct and harmonization with policies guaranteeing maternity leave.

Speaking to Rwanda Today, Jean Leonard Sekanyange, co-ordinator of Rwanda civil society organisations said the most of the problems, which the law was supposed to address had been addressed.

“In our proposals with officials from the Ministry of Public Service and Labor, we had wished that the minimum wage rose from Rwf100 to Rwf1,400 looking at different context, including cost of living, inflation, economic growth and things like GDP per capita,” said Mr Sekanyange.

“Although there are grounds for negotiations, it should be a principle that any person with a working minimum age, shouldn’t enter into an agreement that provides remunerations that are below that standard fee,” he explained.

According to Hobess Nkundimana, chief labor inspector at the Ministry of Public Service and Labor, all the proposals that were presented by civil society organisations were considered.

“They were quite a number of suggestions specifically on minimum wage, but we had all agreed to the rate of Rwf1,400 minimum wage per day, the draft ministerial order which is now before the Cabinet could be endorsed or changed,” said Mr Nkundimana.