The Ministry of Local Government has announced that it is planning to hold a consultative meeting between the concerned entities regarding the fate of local government elections that had been slated for early next year. Normally, local government officials from district to village level have a five-year term for a maximum of two mandates. The last term kicked off in 2016 and is expected to end in February 2021. However, it is still an issue to hold elections during the period where Rwanda and the world are engaging in a fight to mitigate the coronavirus pandemic. The National Electoral Commission is pushing for the elections with preventive measures to combat the virus, a proposal that requires approval from the Ministry of Local Government. “We have submitted our proposal to the ministry of local government, but we wanted the elections to take place with Covid-19 preventive measures in place”, expressed Charles Munyaneza, the Executive Secretary of the NEC. Through its communications officer, Joseph Curio Havugimana, the Ministry of Local Government said that the proposal has been received and that the ministry is working on the issue, promising to communicate the decision as soon as possible. “We are planning to hold a consultative meeting with concerned entities to examine the way forward, whether the elections will take place or another alternative”, replied the communications officer. The grassroots elections include those of advisory councils from the cell level to the district level. The advisory council then elects the executive committee members at the district level.
