The long journey that begun at the beginning of the year with Rwandans petitioning Parliament for the Constitution to be amended came to a climax, yesterday, with the announcement of the referendum results.

The Chairperson of the National Electoral Commission (NEC), Prof. Kalisa Mbanda, announced the final results from the referendum, held Decermber 17-18 from abroad and within the country, showing that an overwhelming 98.3 per cent Rwandans voted to have the constitution changed.

The exercise sought to amend article 101 of the constitution to pave way for President Kagame to continue to lead the country after his second term comes to an end in 2017.

The process which began with petitions from 3.8 million citizens from across the country and the Diaspora concluded with 98 per cent of citizens voting in favor of the new constitution.

According to final results as presented by NEC, 6,392,867 Rwandans registered to vote of which 6,266,490 voted, representing 98 per cent of the registered voters.

A total of 6,248,204 voted well, representing 99.7 of the total votes cast.

At least 6,143,060, representing 98.3 per cent, voted ‘Yes,’ while 105,144 (1.7 per cent) voted ‘No’.

 In the Diaspora, 37,476 people had registered to vote of which 20,133, representing 53.7 per cent, cast their votes.

A total of 19,144, representing 99.1 per cent, voted ‘Yes’ while 183, representing 0.9 per cent, voted ‘No’.

Inside the country, Rwamagana District had the highest proposition of votes cast for ‘Yes’. From an expected 189,094 registered voters in the district, 186,596 cast their vote, representing 98.7 per cent, where 185,770, representing 99.6 per cent, voted well, producing 185,361 votes, representing 99.8 per cent, for ‘Yes’, while 409 votes (0.2 per cent) voted ‘No’.

Nyarugenge District voted the most for ‘No’ where from an expected 202,182 registered voters, 193,376 voters cast their vote, representing 95.6 per cent.

A total of 192,364 (99.5 per cent) vote, producing 180,473 votes for ‘Yes’, representing 93.8 per cent, and 11,891 votes (6.2 per cent) voted ‘No’.

Yesterday,  Prof. Mbanda officially announced that the Constitution had been amended with the final tally of 98.3 per cent in favour of the revised Constitution.

Also amended in the Constitution are term limits Senators and the Chief Justice from one term of eight years to maximum two terms of five years each.