At Saint Rita polling station in Bumbogo Sector of Gasabo, on July 15, Josephine Mukarugwiro, 76, emerges from a polling room beaming with purple ink on the little finger on her left hand. It is a mark that she has successfully cast her vote. The resident of Bumbogo Sector is one of the hundreds of Rwandans who turned up at the polling centre to elect the Head of State and Members of Parliament in the Chamber of Deputies. ALSO READ: Rwandans head to the polls: Five things to know Currently, she said that progress was achieved, people are free, they go wherever they want and they have access to public service without any discrimination, and have the right to do what they want, including making a choice of the leader they want. She said that this might be taken lightly by many, especially the younger generation but it should not be taken for granted because things were different a few decades back. Mukarugwiro said that she had proudly exercised her civic right to vote with a view to sustaining progress. “What makes me happy the most is that is to be led by a leader I chose myself ... by giving him my vote,” she said. “He should focus on sustaining peace and security such that we continue to achieve progress that does not exclude or oppress anyone,” she observed. “It [having a part in voting] is my pride, it makes me realise that I have the right and capacity to vote a leader of my choice,’’ she said, adding “and I understand that if the one I voted wins the elections, he will have been the choice of the majority, hence being important to the country,” she said. ALSO READ: A look at Rwanda’s three presidential candidates Shallon Bwimba, a first-time voter from Kimironko Sector, in Gasabo, Kigali, says her vote contributes to better leadership and progress for Rwanda. She voted at Ecole Primaire Remera Catholique polling station, also located in Gasabo. “Voting for the first time is something we were looking forward to, and we hope that the leaders we elected will make us attain better achievements in the future than we have today,” she said. According to the national voters’ registry, over 2 million young Rwandans were voting for the first time in this election. “It shows me that I have the right to vote who I want. While voting started at 7 am and expected to close at 3 pm, there were exceptions that led to some polling stations being open after that time. This was the case for polling stations including Saint Rita in Bumbogo where voting was still under way around 4 pm. Sinata Uwanyirigira, the polling station coordinator told The New Times that many people who were not on the initial list of voters to cast ballots at the centre, came to vote from there, resulting in a turn up of about 180 per cent. Speaking to Rwanda Broadcasting Agency (RBA) on July 15, afternoon, NEC Executive Secretary Charles Munyaneza said that many people had arrived at polling stations to cast their votes, by 7 am. But, he said that there were exceptions to the closure time as people were still voting after 3 pm at some polling stations including in Gasabo District, Kamonyi, and Bugesera. Meanwhile, he observed that the electorate voted calmly as the commission had required them.
