The Senate has approved of the nomination of Domitilla Mukantaganzwa for the President of the Supreme Court and her deputy Alphonse Hitiyaremye after vetting their qualifications. During a session on Thursday, December 5, 26 Senators voted unanimously in approval of the two lawyers picked to head the Rwandan judiciary. ALSO READ: The rise of Domitilla Mukantaganzwa to Chief Justice The qualifications of Mukantaganzwa, the former head of Gacaca courts, and Hitiyaremye, a former deputy Prosecutor General, were vetted by the Senate Committee on Political Affairs and Governance. “After vetting the qualifications of the nominees and having interviews with them, as well as reviewing the responsibilities of the Supreme Court, the Committee concluded that [Mukantagazwa and Hitiyaremye] have the knowledge and experience that would enable them to do the duties that they have been nominated for,” the Committee Chairperson, Senator Usta Kaitesi told the Senate. President Paul Kagame appointed Mukantaganzwa and Hitiyaremye on December 3. The Supreme Court President and Deputy President serve a five-year term, renewable once. The 60-year-old lawyer, who succeeded Faustin Ntezilyayo, becomes the sixth Chief Justice of Rwanda after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, and the second female to hold the top position after Aloysie Cyanzayire, who headed the Rwandan judiciary from 2003 to 2011. Mukantagazwa has more than 30 years of experience in legal practice. She holds a master’s degree in peace studies obtained from Hekima University College, Nairobi, Kenya; a bachelor of law from the National University of Rwanda (1987), and a diploma in legal practice from Institute of Legal Practice and Development (ILPD). Before her appointment to the Supreme Court presidency, she had been the Chairperson of Rwanda Law Reform Commission from 2019. From 2003 to 2012, Mukantaganzwa was the Executive Secretary of Gacaca Courts, the traditional judicial mechanism which heard nearly two million cases related to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. ALSO READ: The Supreme Court ruling that ‘triggered’ a review of sentencing laws 57-year-old Hitiyaremye, who succeeded Marie-Therese Mukamulisa, had been a judge of the Supreme Court since 2013. A holder of a master’s degree in International Public Law from Kiev State University (1995), Hitiyaremye was the Deputy Prosecutor General from 2006 until 2013. Prior to that, he was the Inspector General of Prosecution. Among other position, Hitiyaremye also served as Advisor to the Minister of Justice inn 1998.
