PARLIAMENT - A new member of the Senate, Stephanie Mukantagara, was Thursday sworn in by President Paul Kagame at the Parliamentary building in Kimihurura.

Mukantagara is the new Liberal Party (PL) representative in the Senate replacing former senator Odette Nyiramirimo who was elected to represent Rwanda in the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) in May this year.

Nyiramirimo had been serving as senator since 2003; she was a cabinet minister before the 2003 senatorial appointment.

According to article 83 of the constitution, a member of the Senate has to be highly skilled in the fields of science, law, economics, politics, sociology, culture or be a person who has held senior positions in the public or private sectors.

The law also outlines that senators have to posses irreproachable morals and probity, not having been deprived of civil and political rights, being  at least forty years old, not having been sentenced by a court of last instance to a term of imprisonment of six months or more in respect of which there has been no amnesty or rehabilitation.

Mukantagara was a lecturer at Kabgayi Catholic University before her appointment. She also previously worked with the National Electoral Commission in 2003 and also served as Deputy Headmistress of Fawe Girls’ School.

The 46 year-old is a Rwandan national and holds a masters degree in languages (French); she is married with two children.

The Senate still has three years remaining on its non-renewable eight year mandate.

According to the law, Mukantagara’s stay in the Senate can not exceed the remaining period. She will, together with other Senators, step down in 2011.

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