At exactly 5pm, yesterday, the National Electoral Commission (NEC) closed the process of receiving nomination papers for presidential aspirants for the August election.

Bids for six candidates were received.

According to Prof. Kalisa Mbanda, the NEC chairperson, the exercise was "seamless and successful.” He cdescribed the progress as an encouraging yardstick for the "ever-growing democracy” in Rwanda.

The incumbent President and candidate for the governing Rwanda Patriotic Front was the last to present his nomination papers at NEC on Thursday.

Before him were four independent aspirants; Philippe Mpayimana, Diane Shima Rwigara, Gilbert Mwenedata, and Fred Sekikubo Barafinda, as well as Frank Habineza of the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda.

"Having received six aspiring candidates is such a good indication that there is democracy in this country. We applaud the aspirants and wish them well in the next step, which is to scrutinise the papers they brought to us,” Mbanda said.

Some aspirants, however, were short of the required documents. Mbanda said the aspirants will have a chance to provide the missing documents.

"Even after publishing the provisional list, aspirants will still be able to submit the remaining requirements. This should be done in about two weeks to the release of the final list of the qualified candidates,” he said.

The final list of presidential candidates will be released on July 7.

Mbanda said they didn’t encounter any challenges during the nomination exercise. editorial@newtimes.co.rw