Sixteen candidates from City of Kigali who are vying for seats reserved for women lawmakers in the Chamber of Deputies on Thursday, June 27, campaigned in Kicukiro.

Each candidate had 10 minutes to make an election pitch in front of the electoral college.

Parliamentary aspirants in the special interest groups; women, youth, and persons with disabilities, have distinct campaign protocols different from those for presidential and other parliamentary candidates.

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By and large, the candidates promised that if elected, they will advocate for women rights, and work with their colleagues in Parliament to pass laws that promote the family and the country’s development.

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They also pledged to help address pressing issues such as early pregnancies, child stunting, family conflicts, and the problem of street children.

With the elections for Members of Parliament set for July, a total of 199 female candidates are vying for 24 seats reserved for female lawmakers in the Chamber of Deputies. They will be elected on July 16. There are two seats up for grabs for the 16 candidates vying to represent women from City of Kigali.

According to Moise Bukasa, National Electoral Commission (NEC) Communication Officer, for female MPs, there will be an indirect election – a system in which eligible voters are represented in an election. The voting process will involve specific organs aligned with national administrative entities. These entities include members of the Executive Committee of the National Women Council at various levels including, village, cell, sector, district, province, the City of Kigali, and national.

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Members of sector councils within the electoral constituency, district councils of the province, and the council of the City of Kigali will cast their votes in the constituency where they were initially elected.

According to a December 2023 Presidential Order relating to elections of the President and Deputies, the distribution of seats for 24 female MPs elected by specific organs in accordance with the national administrative entities is based on the number of the population of each province and the City of Kigali.