The National Electoral Commission (NEC), yesterday released preliminary results of Friday’s referendum showing that 98.3% of Rwandans from 30 districts voted ‘Yego’ (Yes) to have the constitution amended while 1.6% voted ‘Oya.’

"Out of 6.3 million people who were expected to vote, 6.2 million participated and represented a voter turn-up of 98.3%. Those who voted to have the constitution changed represent 98.3% of the votes whereas those who voted ‘Oya’ (No) are 1.6%,” said Kalisa Mbanda, the NEC chairperson while announcing the preliminary results yesterday.

In the diaspora, 35,978 people took to the polls, 30,867 voted ‘Yego’ representing 98.7% while 419 people voted ‘Oya’ representing 1.3%. 

Mbanda also reiterated that what happened was the people’s choice and it was the wishes of Rwandans to amend the constitution which was given enough time to be explained to the people. He said this while responding to question regarding a statement by the European Union which claimed that one week was not enough to explain the proposed constitutional changes.

Mbanda said that the time allocated was enough because people were ready to vote and they knew exactly what they wanted. He also added all parties were allocated the same time to sensitise Rwandans about the referendum.

"I don’t think we gave one side more time than the other to sensitise people about the referendum. We gave enough and equal period of time to all parties wishing to participate in the sensitisation process to do so, which was one week. I don’t think that time was limited,” he said.  

The EU statement also alleged that there was no process allowing for independent monitoring in place. However, according to NEC, there were 7 international observers, five Japanese, one Nigerian and one from Democratic Republic of Congo. Civil society platform deployed 515 observers in total, which brings the final number to 522 independent observers.

Civil society organisations says elections were calm and secure

The Civil society electoral observation mission noted that elections started on time, there was a big turn-up of people and the closure was observed as provided by the laws governing the voting exercise. They noted that the atmosphere was calm, secure and generally the elections were free and fair. They also noted that electoral commission staff was helpful in guiding people to their respective polling stations and sorting out voter related issues.

However, Edouard Munyamaliza, the civil society electoral observation mission chief observer, said that some obstacles were observed at some polling stations. He said that the issues observed were minor in nature compared to the professional way the elections were handled. He added that, in no way could these minor issues affect the outcome of the elections.

"Some issues include withholding information from observers, a case in point is in Kibungo sector; some electoral materials reached stations late or were not sufficient enough and people had to wait for more materials, some observers were not allowed in consolidation rooms and the civil society wasn’t given enough time to prepare for observatory activities,” he said.

N.F.P.O applauds election process

The National Consultative Forum of Political Organisations (N.F.P.O) also noted that elections went well throughout the country. In a statement released by the organisation, it noted that the tallying process was in public and people were instantly informed of the result.

"Rwandans across the country have welcomed the outcome of the elections and this clearly shows we have taken a big step towards political maturity, democracy and the will of Rwandans in deciding their future. We want to thank the government for organising a free and fair election for all Rwandans,” it reads.

Meanwhile Mbanda said that the results were tentative but they hope to announce the final results on Monday.

He added that they were still checking for mistakes that might require corrections before the final results are announced.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw