Students have been urged to participate in the coming presidential election slated for August.

The executive secretary of the National Electoral Commission (NEC), Charles Munyaneza made the call while addressing students of the University of Tourism, Technology and Business Studies (UTB). This was during a public talk by officials on electoral processes that took place at the university premises in Kigali last week.

Munyaneza challenged the students to be at the helm of such processes.

"It’s very shameful to find a university student who is ignorant about issues like presidential term limits, referendum and information regarding electoral processes like registration yet there is an assumption that a university student is mature enough and is eligible to vote,” he said.

Munyaneza also appealed to the students to choose the rightful leaders.

"As students you have a lot of interests and your right to participate in the election. You are central to this process. Youth have a big role in the life of this nation. Thus you who are at the university have to be the torch bearers in sensitising others to participate in the election,” he said.

Prof Gustave Tombola, the deputy vice chancellor of academic affairs at UTB, told students to always exercise their rights in a peaceful manner.

"Our philosophy is that elections are not a tool that destroys but a tool that builds the state. We always hear of strikes among students, but such actions won’t reap anything good other than costing you property and time,” he said.

Daniel Mugumya, a student at the university, said they needed a bigger platform to participate in the election process.

"Some of us want to be more involved, for instance, by serving as polling officers,” he said.

Brian Gashuga, another student at the university, on the other hand, suggested that a specific platform that gives daily progress on the election process be put in place to keep them informed.