Nine candidates have so far submitted their nomination papers to the National Electoral Commission (NEC) a week to the end of the registration period for next month’s senatorial elections,

Charles Munyaneza, the commission’s Executive Secretary, disclosed this yesterday in an interview with The New Times.

"By last Friday, we had registered nine people. But we will still be receiving all those who wish to contest in these elections up to the final day,” Munyaneza said.

The nomination exercise kicked off August 1 and is scheduled to end on August 15.

The names of those elected, Munyaneza said, will be forwarded to the Supreme Court for vetting after the nomination deadline before the final list of eligible candidates is announced by NEC.

Of the 26 representatives in the Senate, only 14 will be elected, eight will be nominated by the President while other four will be forwarded by the Consultative Forum for Political Organisations (CFPO).

Twelve of those to be elected will be provincial and Kigali city representatives while the other two will represent public and private institutions of higher education.

One person will be elected in the city, two in the Northern Province while three people will be elected from each of the other provinces.

"The number of Senators representing provinces is based on the number of registered voters in that region,” Munyaneza noted, adding that most voters are in the Eastern, Southern and Western provinces.

The elections for provincial representatives will be held on September 26 while those representing institutions of higher education will be elected on September 27. Election results will be announced on October 4.

The Electoral Colleges at the provincial level will be composed of district and sector councils while those representing universities will be composed of only permanent lecturers, who are Rwandan nationals, registered in their respective institutions.

However, Munyaneza said that only three sector councillors from each of the 416 sectors in the country will cast their votes. They are the Chairperson of the council, the Vice Chairperson and the Secretary.

He explained that only four of the Senators appointed by the President will be forwarded this year.

"Only four serving senators who were appointed by the President in 2003 will be replaced while others who were appointed in 2004 still have more years in service and the president will appoint their replacement next year when their term expires,” Munyaneza explained.

He further noted that only two of the senators from CFPO will be appointed this year while others will be appointed next year.

Ends