MPs, judiciary leaders to take oath of office tomorrow

Members of the Third Lower House, elected in last month’s polls, will be sworn in tomorrow. The dominantly female 80-member Lower Chamber of Parliament will take oath to service their constituencies and the country in the afternoon, according to Augustin Habimana, the director of communication and outreach at Parliament. [SEE ALSO: 50 MPs return experience to House] They include 53 MPs representing political parties; Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF)-led coalition, Liberal Party and Social Democratic Party. Also to be sworn in are epresentatives of special interest groups, including women (24), youth (2) and one representing people living with disabilities. The September elections saw the RPF led-coalition sweep to a landslide win of 76 per cent. That earned the coalition 41 of the 54 openly-contested seats in the Lower House. This means the RPF coalition returns to Parliament with one person less the number they had in the previous Chamber. Constitutional provisions Article 65 of the Constitution stipulates that the swearing in of Members of Parliament takes place within 15 days after the final proclamation of the results. The final results were announced on September 20. Women will occupy 51 out of the 80 seats in the Lower House, representing 64 per cent. According to the Constitution, the swearing in is supposed to be presided over by the Head of State. The Director-General of Communication and Outreach at Parliament, Augustin Habimana said: “Immediately after the swearing in, the new parliament will hold their inaugural sitting to elect the Bureau, composed of the speaker and his or her two deputies.” He added that the ordinary session will commence on Monday, October 7. Meanwhile, the same ceremony will see senior officials recently appointed within the judiciary also take oath of office. Incoming Prosecutor-General Richard Muhumuza will officially take over from Martin Ngoga. Also to be sworn inis the new deputy prosecutor-general, Agnes Mukagashugi. Others who will swear in are new Supreme Court judges, the new president of the High Court Charles Kaliwabo, and the president and vice president of Commercial High Court. Former Deputy Prosecutor-General Alphonse Hitiyaremye, a Supreme Court judge appointee, is yet to be approved by the Senate. Habimana said a senatorial session is expected to convene today to look into his nomination.

National

MPs, judiciary leaders to take oath of office tomorrow