A total of 2,068 candidates are running for District Council seats ahead of mayoral elections due in February, the National Electoral Commission (NEC) announced yesterday.

The candidates include those who want to represent their sectors as general councilors in the districts and women who will be elected to be part of the district councils in respect to the principle of 30 per cent women representation in the country’s decision making institutions.

Mayors and vice-mayors are elected from councilors.

NEC published the list of the candidates, yesterday, following a vetting exercise, which led to elimination of those not eligible.

Candidates who failed to produce their certificates of birth or their criminal records were disqualified.

"Those who were disqualified from running for district council seats are very few. Most of the candidates met the requirements,” said NEC chairperson Kalisa Mbanda during a news conference yesterday.

The district councilors will be voted on February 22 in a universal suffrage through a secret ballot.

Voters will be picking only two people to represent their respective sector in the district council. One councilor will be the general representative voted using a white piece of paper, while a woman candidate will be voted using a rose coloured paper.

While every sector has to send one general councilor to represent it in the district council and one woman candidate, NEC officials said three candidates, on average, are competing for one seat for the general councilor, while two candidates, on average, are competing for the women representation slot.

Of the 2,068 candidates vying for district council slots, 59.6 per cent are men, while 40.4 per cent are women.

The vice-chairperson of NEC, Rosalie Mukamazera, hailed women’s continued interest in running for district council positions, describing the 40.4 per cent figure as significant given that the outgoing district councilors, elected in 2011, also comprised 40 per cent women representation.

"It shows that women understand that they have to play a role in the country’s governance,” she said.

All the candidates running for district council positions have two weeks to officially campaign from February 6 to 21, NEC officials said.

Candidates are free to meet people physically in communities or use information and communication technology (ICT) tools, like the internet and telephones to spread their messages, NEC said.

Apart from the elected district councilors, the District Council is also made up of representatives of all the sectors in the district, representatives of the youth and women in the district, a representative of the private sector in the district, as well as those representing people living with disabilities.

Apart from district councilors who are potential mayors, the local government elections, slated for February and March, will also see Rwandans vote for other grassroots leaders, including cell executive committees and cell councils, councilors for sectors, as well as representatives of women, youth, and people with disabilities.

About 6.5 million Rwandans are expected to vote in the polls.

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