With the elections for Members of Parliament (MPs) set for July, a total of 199 female candidates qualified for the final list are vying for 24 seats reserved for female lawmakers in the Chamber of Deputies. They will be elected on July 16. Moise Bukasa, National Electoral Commission (NEC) Communication Officer, told The New Times on June 18, that for female MPs, there will be an indirect election – a system in which eligible voters are represented in an election. The voting process will involve specific organs aligned with national administrative entities. These entities include members of the Executive Committee of the National Women Council at various levels including, village, cell, sector, district, province, the City of Kigali, and national. ALSO READ: How seats for 24 female lawmakers will be distributed by constituency Members of sector councils within the electoral constituency, district councils of the province, and the council of the City of Kigali will cast their votes in the constituency where they were initially elected. According to a December 2023 Presidential Order relating to elections of the President and Deputies, the distribution of seats for 24 female MPs elected by specific organs in accordance with the national administrative entities is based on the number of the population of each province and the City of Kigali. The Presidential Order provides that four seats are allotted to Northern Province, six seats to Southern Province, six to Eastern Province; and six to Western Province, while the City of Kigali gets two seats. ALSO READ: Elections: What happens before campaign period begins Jackline Kamanzi, Executive Secretary of the National Women’s Council (NWC), said that the voting process adheres to the national legal framework and follows the instructions provided by NEC, which is responsible for organising and conducting elections. “The NWC is tasked with mobilising, building capacities, and advocating for women. Regarding elections, we mobilise women to participate throughout the entire election process, including the pre-election, election, and post-election phases.” In terms of capacity-building, she mentioned that the NWC focuses on enhancing the skills of women candidates, particularly in areas such as gender and elections, women in leadership roles, communication and presentation skills, awareness of the electoral process, post-election handling, and ethical conduct for candidates. She added, “NEC will provide ongoing workshops to train women candidates on the general laws and regulations governing elections.”
