The Social Democratic Party (PSD) is proposing a 50 per cent increase in the number of members of Parliament (MPs) in the Chamber of Deputies to 120 from the current 80.

This, it held, is meant to enable the lower house to effectively carry out its role of representing the people and overseeing government activities.

Similarly, the party wants the number of Senators (members of the upper house of Rwanda’s parliament) to go up to 40 from the current 26.

It is one of 60 proposals contained in PSD’s manifesto that it stated it would push for implementation once its parliamentary candidates get seats in parliament – for the next five-year term (2024-2029).

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According to the constitution of Rwanda, an organic law governing elections may increase or decrease the number of Deputies (MPs) or Senators. It provides that at least 30 per cent of them must be women.

PSD first vice-president Valens Muhakwa said that the party based the proposal on factors including that when the current number of MPs was set in 2003, Rwanda’s population was about eight million, adding that the census of 2022 showed that the country’s population was more than 13 million.

"That implies that for the 80 MPs to reach 13 million, it involves too much work. That work is based on the fact that the country’s national budget increased,” he said.

Muhakwa was speaking in Kicukiro District, on June 30, as the party held a campaign rally seeking to garner votes for its parliamentary candidates to secure seats in the lower house in the July elections.

Overall, on June 30, PSD held campaign rallies in five districts namely, Kayonza, Ruhango, Nyaruguru, Rutsiro, and Kicukiro.

Given that the responsibilities of parliament include carrying out oversight of the government’s activities, and that such activities or projects increased with the national budget of almost Rwf5.7 trillion, Muhakwa said it requires more MPs to fulfill the responsibility.

The figure implies that Rwanda’s current budget is about 25 times bigger compared to that of 2003 which was estimated at Rwf220 billion, according to data from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.

Muhakwa observed that "there is a need for means in both the [financial] resources and the number of MPs so that they reach out to the people,” pointing out that another responsibility of the parliament is to reach out to the people.

He indicated that it is difficult for 80 MPs to reach out to the current population at the same rate as it was in 2003 because the population was smaller at the time.

The purpose of MPs’ outreach programme includes listening to their issues as the people’s representatives in parliament and make advocacy so that they are addressed by concerned entities, Muhakwa said, adding that MPs have to go back to the people in question to make sure that the implicated issues were indeed addressed.

Increasing the number of MPs will contribute to supervising government activities to know whether they are implemented for the benefit of the citizens and on time. Second, it is to reach all people.

Also, he said, it will help them reach out to the people they represent, listen to their complaints, "and know whether the laws we vote are within the interests of the people, those that need amendments, be revised in line with the intended pace.”

Olivier Nduhungirehe, a PSD member, who is also Rwanda’ Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, said that given the population growth that was registered, "we realise it is high time for the number [of MPs and Senators] to be increased so that it matches the current situation.”