Donatha Tuyizere, 34-year-old nurse, submitted her candidature for the July parliamentary elections to the National Electoral Commission (NEC) on May, 27.
Tuyizere, an independent candidate who comes from Rubavu District sees her decision to contest as an opportunity to connect deeply with citizens and understand their needs firsthand.
"When I get elected as a member of parliament, I will be sure of citizens’ needs with a better understanding because I discussed with them in advance.”
Tuyizere who is committed to "addressing the disconnect between elected officials and the citizens they serve” said that the main issue she heard from people – while collecting signatures – was the problem of voting for lawmakers and never seeing them again.
"I will try to change this once I am elected," she said.
Despite facing challenges in gathering the required 600 signatures to support her candidacy, Tuyizere persevered.
"Getting the signatures was not easy for me. It was really complicated. But I still went on, and I am glad that I made it."
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Elections for Rwanda’s next President and Members of Parliament are scheduled to take place on the same dates, in July.
The Chamber of Deputies has 80 members: 53 elected from a fixed list of names of candidates proposed by political organisations or independent candidates elected by direct universal suffrage based on proportional representation; 24 women elected by specific electoral colleges from national administrative entities; two elected by the National Youth Council; and one elected by the National Council of Persons with Disabilities.
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July 16 will be election day for 24 female MPs elected by electoral colleges in accordance with national administrative entities; two MPs elected by the National Youth Council; and one MP elected by the National Council of Persons with Disabilities, according to the December 2023 Presidential Order relating to elections of the President and MPs.
On May 17, NEC begun receiving candidacies for the presidency and parliamentary seats for the July general elections.
The polling date for the President and 53 MPs elected from a final list of names of candidates proposed by political organisations, or for independent candidates, is July 15.
The diaspora will vote on July 14.
The deadline for submitting candidatures is May 30. A provisional list of approved candidates for the presidency, as well as parliament will be announced on June 6.
The final list will be announced on June 14.
The campaign period will begin on June 22 and close on July 13 before voting gets underway from July 14 to 16.