Weekly review

Presidential elections were peaceful-Common Wealth The Commonwealth Observers Group (COG) who arrived in the country last week ahead of last Monday’s presidential election, have described the electoral process as “well organized and peaceful poll”. In a provisional statement issued Tuesday this week by the group’s chairperson, Dr.Salim Ahmed Salim, former Tanzanian Prime Minister, the team said that the National Electoral Commission (NEC) “conducted the technical aspects very well, providing confidence to the people to turn out in large numbers.” He commended Rwandans for their active involvement and for their faith in the electoral process. Over the electoral period, the team members were present in Kigali City and the four Provinces, where they observed the voting, counting and tabulation processes. PSD President congratulates Kagame The Social Democratic Party (PSD) presidential candidate, Dr. Jean Damascene Ntawukuriryayo, congratulated President Paul Kagame upon winning the presidential polls that took place on Monday.Ntawukuriryayo was one of the four contestants for the presidency. Others were PL’s Prosper Higiro and PPC’s Alvera Mukabaramba, the only woman in the race. “I congratulate him and his family, and the whole Rwandan population and friends of Rwanda and wish them all the best.” he said in a statement. Parties’ forum commends polls The Forum for Political Parties has announced that Monday’s presidential elections were conducted in a transparent and proper manner. This was revealed in a statement released early this week by the Forum’s Executive Secretary, Anicet Kayigema. “Our observers monitored the election preparations, population participation and election results, and they came up with a report which says that the elections were properly organized,” the statement reads.Kayigema stressed that the forum’s observers found that the public were well informed about voting procedures through the media. According to the statement, there was enough security and election materials arrived on time at the polling stations, “the forum appreciates the good work done by the electoral body.” Grenade victim dies One of the seven people injured in the Wednesday grenade explosion at a busy bus and taxi terminal in downtown Kigali, commonly known as kwa Rubangura, died ON Thursday. In a media interview, the Director General of Kigali Central Teaching Hospital (CHUK), Dr. Theobald Hategekimana, said only one unidentified man died, and not six as it had been reported by some sections in the media. “We lost one person out of the 7 who were injured. He was a man. He died from injuries sustained on the head. The other six are recovering steadily,” Hategekimana said. He added that about 21 people had been brought to hospital but only seven had sustained injuries while the others had just been traumatized by the explosion. According to eye witnesses, when the explosion went off just after 6 pm during rush hour, people took cover while others panicked into a stampede. Ends