Political parties and independent candidates in different categories on Saturday, June 22 started a three-week long campaign trail as Rwanda gears up for presidential and parliamentary elections next month.

The campaigns begin on June 22 and run through July 13 – just one day before Rwandans in the diaspora vote the Head of State and 53 Members of Parliament elected from candidates proposed by political organisations and independent candidates.

Rwandans in the country will vote on July 15.

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Incumbent President Paul Kagame, the flag-bearer of the ruling party Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF Inkotanyi) is facing two candidates; Frank Habineza for Democratic Green Party of Rwanda, and Philippe Mpayimana, an independent candidate.

Meanwhile, RPF Inkotanyi and five political parties that formed a coalition with it, submitted a list of 80 candidates. The RPF-led coalition partners are Centrist Democratic Party (PDC), Party for Democracy and Concord (PPC), Rwandese Labor Party (PSR), Prosperity and Solidarity Party (PSP), Democratic Union of Rwandan Peoples (UDPR).

The Social Democratic Party (PSD), considered Rwanda’s second largest party, basing on perfomance in previous elections, has fielded 59 candidates for parliamentary elections.

The party chose to back RPF's Kagame for the presidency.

Overall, 589 candidates are vying for the 80 parliamentary seats in the Chamber of Deputies, according to the National Electoral Commission (NEC).

Of those candidates, 345 – constituting more than half of the total – are from political organisations.

Other parties that have fielded parliamentary candidates are; Liberal Party (PL) which has 54 candidates, the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda (DGPR-Green Party) with 50 candidates, the Ideal Democratic Party (PDI) with 55 candidates, and PS Imberakuri which is represented by 47 candidates in the parliamentary elections.

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Where candidates start campaign trails

For presidential candidates, on Saturday, June 22, Kagame will launch his presidential bid in Musanze District, Habineza in Gasabo district, while Mpayimana will address his innaugural rally in Kirehe district.

For parliamentary elections, the only independent candidate, Janvier Nsengiyumva, kicks off his campaign in Muhanga district, on June 22.

Meanwhile, PSD will launch their campaigns in Bugesera district; DGPR-Green Party, in Gasabo Ddistrict; and PS Imberakuri, in Kirehe District.

On Sunday, June 23, PL will start campaigns at Kigali Pelé Stadium in Nyarugenge District; while PDI will start them on June 26, according to the parties’ respective agendas.

Apart from DGPR-Green Party, and PS Imberakuri, other parties will also be championing for the re-election of Kagame as the President of Rwanda in the July 2024 polls.

Meanwhile, for candidates competing for 27 seats reserved for representatives of special interest groups in Parliament’s Lower House, NEC set specific campaign dates. They include 24 seats are for women, two for the youth, and one for people with disabilities. They will be elected on July 16.

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The campaigns for the women candidates will begin on June 25, and close on July 5; those for people with disabilities, and the youth will start on July 2 and close on July 12, according to NEC.

Also, the candidates from the special interest groups will campaign before their electoral colleges made up of members of the executive committees of their respective national councils.