Rwandans living abroad have until the end this month to register at their respective embassies, the Ministry of Local Government has announced.

Eugene Balikana, the Secretary General in the Ministry of Local Government said yesterday that the decision was taken to allow the Diaspora enough time to travel to nearby embassies scattered in different countries.

"We gave them (Diaspora) one month after considering the hardships like distance, culture of work and some people will travel by air for five hours to reach the embassy,” Balikana explained.

 Last weekend, citizens in the country were given only two days (Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 1-2) and there was a massive turn-up in the exercise.

Registration for the Diaspora kicked off yesterday. Every Rwandan citizen is supposed to go in person and register at their respective embassies, Balikana said.

According to an announcement by the Rwandan Embassy in the United Kingdom placed in The New Times on September 3, registration there began on Monday and is set to end on September 28.  To register, you must have a passport, National ID and voters’ cards.

Meanwhile Balikana said about 90 percent of the places in the country ended the registration on Sunday. 

Among the challenges, he said, forms were few compared to the number of people they expected and some people were not known.

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