Explainer: What follows the announcement of presidential election results?

It is just a few days before the National Electoral Commission (NEC) announces the final results of the general elections that took place between July 14 to 16. The available preliminary results so far show that incumbent Paul Kagame secured 99.18 per cent of the votes, while his closest rival, Frank Habineza of the Democratic Green Party, managed only 0.50 per cent of the vote, and independent candidate Philippe Mpayimana trailed with 0.32 per cent. ALSO READ: 2024 elections reinforced Rwanda’s image as beacon of peace, unity, progress – political party’s forum The electoral commission will announce final results not later than July 27. What will happen after that? The New Times breaks down some of the events that will follow the announcement of the results of the presidential elections. The presidential oath According to Article 102 of the constitution, before assuming office, the President of the Republic publicly takes oath before the President of the Supreme Court as follows. The President of the Republic takes the oath of office within 30 days following his or her election. His or her oath of office is administered by the President of the Supreme Court. This year, the date for the presidential oath is yet to be published but it is expected to take place in August. Appointment of the Prime Minister After taking the oath, what follows is the appointment of the Prime Minister, whom the president appoints within 15 days after swearing in. In Rwanda, the Prime Minister holds responsibilities which include leading the functioning of the government in accordance with guidelines given by the president as well as ensuring the implementation of laws. ALSO READ: THROUGH PICTURES: How voting in Rwanda unfolded The office of the Prime Minister formulates government programmes in consultation with other cabinet members, and carry out other functions as may be assigned by the President or conferred by the Constitution and other laws. Appointment of the rest of the cabinet Within 15 days after the appointment of the Prime Minister, the President appoints the rest of the members of the cabinet. The cabinet is composed of the Prime Minister, Ministers, Ministers of State and other members who may be determined by the President where considered necessary. According to Article 62 of the constitution, there are power-sharing guidelines that are followed while appointing members of the cabinet as well as other public officials. Among these, for instance, the president of the nation and the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies cannot come from the same political organisation. In addition, though cabinet members are selected from political organisations on the basis of seats held by those political organisations in the Chamber of Deputies, the political party holding the majority of seats in the Chamber of Deputies cannot have more than 50 percent of cabinet members. During cabinet appointments, other competent persons (who are not part of political parties) can be made ministers. Oath of cabinet members After their appointment, cabinet members publicly take the oath before the president. Currently, the cabinet of Rwanda consists of 32 ministers (including state ministers), and the CEO of Rwanda Development Board (RDB). Among the duties of the Cabinet is implementing national policy agreed upon by the president and the Cabinet itself, as well as being accountable to the President and the parliament.

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Explainer: What follows the announcement of presidential election results?