RPF Secretary General, Wellars Gasamagera, flanked by the Commissioner in Charge Dr. Abdallah Utumatwishima, announce address the media on the electoral calendar. Photos/Eric Ruzindana/KT.
The ruling party, Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF-Inkotanyi) has kicked off preparations for the July Presidential Polls, beginning with nationwide party primaries to elect representatives of the party, right from the grassroot level, up to the national level, where a candidate for the Presidential elections and Members of Parliament will be elected.
This was revealed on Friday by Wellars Gasamagera, Secretary General, RPF-Inkotanyi, in a press conference, at the party headquarters in Rusororo, Gasabo district, to announce three-week long party electoral exercise which will culminate into a national congress to elect the flagbearer in the Presidential polls.
SG Gasamagera said the exercise comes ahead of the July elections, in which RPF Inkotanyi has already revealed intentions to seek re-election, to continue leading the country, in a bit to consolidate the achievements registered over the past three decades.
He pointed out that since RPF-Inkotanyi took over in 1994, guided by its founding principles, the country has undergone tremendous socioeconomic transformation and the party, which is led by President Paul Kagame, as its Chairman, is looking to build on its achievements by seeking re-election.
“After this 7-year term, we are going to run in the elections again, to continue leading the country as the political organisation in charge. In this election, we are running on the basis of the achievements registered over the past seven years. We achieved a lot and wish to continue on this path,”
SG Gasamagera said RPF Inkotanyi will seek re-election on the basis of the achievements registered over the past 7 years.
“We want to continue on the development course we’ve established over the years through good leadership, we will reveal more as we go, and we will also tell Rwandans what we want to do over the next term. Next month we will have a party congress where more details will be shared,” Gasamagera told journalists.
He pointed out that the party elections will be unique in the sense that the party candidate in the Presidential elections, Members of Parliament and representatives of the party at all levels, will be elected right from the grassroots, starting at the village level.
The party elections will be held in line with the new electoral calendar announced by the National Electoral Commission (NEC), which combined Presidential and Parliamentary Polls in a bid to harmonise with the electoral calendars of other countries in the East African Community (EAC) and also to minimise resources used to conduct elections.
Previously, Rwanda used to hold Presidential and Parliamentary elections separately, two years apart. Gasamagera said that the party elections will be held in a transparent and inclusive manner, to ensure true representation of the people at all levels.
“We will begin these elections tomorrow, and we look forward to seeing our members come in big numbers to nominate and elect people they believe can represent them in the party at all levels in a democratic manner,” he said emphasizing that all party members have a right to participate in the elections.
