Kayonza women warn gains in gender equality could be lost if Kagame retires

As Members of Parliament continued their countrywide consultations on the request to amend the constitution over the weekend, women in Kayonza and Kirehe districts defended their position to support the continued presidency of Paul Kagame. They credit President Kagame with championing women empowerment, which they said is still at its infancy and that any change may disrupt the progress made so far. The women were speaking during the ongoing consultations, which have seen lawmakers comb sectors in the country to gather public views following petitions submitted to Parliament seeking the initiation of the process to amend the Constitution to allow President Kagame stand again come 2017. During the consultative meeting in Kageyo Sector in Kayonza, women queued in hundreds to tell the visiting legislators that President Kagame had helped them to move from the bondage of the prejudices and stereotypes and made them equal partners in development. Gertrude Mukamusoni, 60, told the MPs that gains in women emancipation in Rwanda could be jeopardised if Kagame left power. She said she had walked over 20 kilometres despite her old age to attend the discussions. “When you see us women supporting Kagame, it’s not just for fashion; this is a President who walks the talk. He has helped every single woman, young and old, the illiterate and the learned to live life with a purpose,” she told the MPs amid deafening applause from the hundreds of residents. Mukamusoni said rural women were previously the most marginalised, noting that they suffered from unimaginable gender-based violence. “The traditional stereotypes remain deeply entrenched in some rural communities but there is progress, it would be counterproductive to have the president leave midway the struggle he begun, of fully empowering women,” he said. MPs Theoneste Safari, Anita Mutesi and Pierre Claver Rwaka later in the day visited Murundi Sector in Kayonza, where women, just like many other residents, reiterated the need to revise Article 101 of the Constitution to allow President Kagame to seek re-election. Residents of Kayonza keenly follow the debate on term limits. In Kirehe, women said they had been given a golden opportunity to earn money from agriculture, something they previously never enjoyed despite their hard work. “Currently, husbands and wives sit and decide how to spend proceeds from their harvest, no single leader had ever created such an environment in our country before. So, he must be given enough time to transform Rwanda…whoever is against his continued leadership, let us go to the polls, but, first, we want President Kagame on the ballot paper,” said Claudette Mukampire, a coffee farmer in Mushikire Sector. MPs Berthe Mujawamariya, Gaston Rusiha and Théogène Munyangeyo, who were in Kirehe District, assured the residents that they will consider their request after countrywide consultations are concluded. The legislators, who have covered half of the sectors in Kirehe, visited the most vulnerable groups and religious leaders, among others. The consultations began after more than 3.7 million Rwandans from all walks of life at home and in the Diaspora sent to Parliament written petitions seeking for the amendment of the Constitution. Under the current Article 101 of the Constitution, President Kagame, who is serving his second term, cannot vie for a third term in office.

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Kayonza women warn gains in gender equality could be lost if Kagame retires