KARONGI- Elections for local councillors in various parts of the Western region ended peacefully yesterday.

Voting kicked off early at most polling stations and by 3 p.m., almost all voters had finished the task. According to provincial authorities, the elections were transparent, free and fair.

"We have no reports of unfortunate incidents. We are waiting for the compilation of the final results,” Denny Bisengimana, the official in charge of Good Governance in the province said last evening.

He noted that there was an impressive turn out in most parts of the region.

There were allegations that in Bwishyura Sector, Karongi District, NEC officials tried to influence voters to select a particular candidate.

But Oswald Burasanzwe, a NEC Commissioner in charge of Western Province dismissed the reports.

"That’s not true, those are just baseless allegations,” he said by telephone.

Meanwhile, provisional results indicated that former mayors who sought re-election were leading.

In the districts of Karongi, Rubavu and Nyamsheke, the former mayors were comfortably leading against their opponents while in Ngororero, it was a tight race.

Former Rusizi Mayor, Fabien Sindayiheba pulled out of the race while his counterpart in Rutsiro, Jean Ndimubahire, was reportedly barred from contesting because of poor conduct.
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