Only two out of five independent candidates who submitted their candidature for the upcoming Parliamentary elections passed the screening by the National Electoral Commission (NEC).

The qualifying candidates are Philippe Mpayimana and Salim Elissam Ntibanyendera.

While the contest drew interest from 17 individuals who picked the nomination forms, only five of them managed to fulfil the requirements and submit their candidacy.

The New Times spoke to the two who got the provisional nod to join the race.

Philippe Mpayimana

The France-based Rwandan was one of the three candidates in last year’s presidential elections where he gathered 49,117 votes (0.73 per cent) of the national vote.

He was in the race with Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) candidate Paul Kagame who won with 98.63 percent of the vote after 6,650,722 Rwandans cast their ballots in his favour. Frank Habineza of the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda trailed with only with 31,633 votes (0.47 per cent).

"It is a pleasure for me to appear on this list after weeks of hard work and pressure to meet the requirements. Traveling all 30 districts was not an easy task. Now, I can rest with relief and gather enough strength to go on with the actual campaign activities,” Mpayimana told The New Times.

Mpayimana said his campaign will be run on three main pledges; Promoting political participation of independent candidates who are not affiliated political parties; the diaspora participation in the development process and Reducing income inequality.

Salim Elissam Ntibanyendera

The 40-year-old candidate is from Gasabo district / Ndera sector. He boasts of a decade-long experience in leadership positions. Currently, he is the chairperson of Collectif Tubakunde (the Umbrella Organization that caters for children with mental disability). He is a director of HVP Gatagara/ Humura. He is also the president of Gasabo child protection network.

"I’m honoured to be part of this preliminary list. It feels good to see that my efforts paid off. I’m also thankful to the selecting team. The next step is to get prepared for the campaign ahead,” he told The New Times.

On his agenda, Ntibanyendera said that once elected for the parliamentary seat his priorities will mainly include promoting accountability of public funds, support to the elderly people and addressing the socio-economic classification, commonly known as ubudehe.

According to Charles Munyaneza, the NEC Executive Secretary, those that did not get onto the provisional list have until August 6, to complete their applications.

Those who are yet to finalise their applications include Theodore Ntakaburimvano and Janvier Nsengiyumva who failed to get the required 600 signatures of endorsement. Another independent, Ally Husseine Sebagenzi, has the 600 signatures but lacks at least 12 signatures from three districts (Rwamagana, Kicukiro and Rutsiro).

Candidates need at least 600 signatures from all the 30 districts. The signatures are used as proof that a candidate has been endorsed by a minimum of 12 people from each district.

The elections are slated for the first week of September.

Independent candidates must garner five percent of the national vote to make it to parliament.

The lower chamber has 80 seats and all are up for grabs. 53 are drawn from political organizations, 24 representing women (elected through the National Women Council structures), two youth representatives, and one representative of people living with disabilities.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw