Today,Rwandans in the Diaspora go to the polls to elect their parliamentary representatives. The same goes for people living with disabilities who also do the same. Elections in Rwanda are unlike others anywhere. Where in other places the heavy police presence is to deal with rowdy youth, in Kigali it is business as usual. Every election year that comes and goes makes the whole exercise smoother; polling stations out-compete each other in having the best-decorated polling booths and some spare no expense. It is like going to the fair, with loud music coming from giant speakers. In fact those in the music and decorating industry make a killing; they hire out their equipment and decorate the tens of thousands of voting booths. The Electoral Commission also comes out even stronger after every election. Despite the number of voters having nearly doubled in the last ten years, the election bill has reduced by nearly one half, becoming more efficient after every exercise. In short, Rwanda’s elections are very uneventful, there is no drama. It is a situation that does not augur well with some sections of the media and self-appointed Rwanda caretakers who always have something negative to speak of the elections. If it was up to them they would stoke as many fires as possible. But Rwandans will continue to disappoint them by doing things they deem is best for them, not some copy-paste template that has corroded many a country’s political atmosphere.
