KIGALI - As the Senate prepares to end its eight-year term, the vice president of the upper chamber, Prosper Higiro has said that out of the 26 Senators, six of them will stay on for one more year.

The six who will stay include four of those appointed by the Presidential appointees and two from the Forum of Political Parties who joined the senate during the second year of the 8-year term.

The four presidential appointees include Joseph Karemera, Aloysia Inyumba, Seth Kamanzi and Henriette Umulisa. The two appointees of Forum for Political Parties are Agnes Mukabaranga and Juvénal Sebishwi.

"Their stay is justified by the law and during their stay they will be orienting the new Senate until they will be replaced a year later,” said Higiro.

He added that at the end of the mandate, the senate administration will hand over to the senate clerk who will wait for the new senate administration to take over and he hands over.

"We are in the process of compiling all our achievements of the past eight years.” Higiro said

"We also intend to come up with recommendations that we will pass on to the Second Senate in order to ensure that they don’t start over but instead proceed from where we ended.”

The first Senate was nominated on October 2, 2003. It started work on October 10, after swearing in.

Of the 26 senators, 12 are elected by the specific councils   in accordance with the administrative entities, eight are appointed by the President of the Republic while four senators are nominated by the Forum of Political organizations.

Two senators are elected from a pool of lecturers and researchers from the country’s Universities and higher learning institutions.

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