With their white canes, around 9am on Friday, Clémence Mukarugwiza and Constance Mukantwari hold each other’s hands and head to Cyimo site in Masaka Sector of Kicukiro District.

Like other Rwandans, they are going for this year’s presidential polls, and for the very first time, the visually impaired voted without relying on aides like had always been the case.

At the polling station, they are received by Janvière Uwamahoro, the returning officer at the site, who asks them whether they had carried their voter cards.

They show her the cards and she gives them specially designed ballot papers meant for people that lost their sight.

The ballot paper has the tactile writing system used by visually impaired people, commonly known as braille machine, to allow them read the names of the three candidates.

New experience

Other voters who were on a queue let the two ladies go first. Mukarugwiza entered the voting booth first and cast her vote followed by Mukantwari.

Uwamahoro helped them around the room showing them the ballot box and other electoral volunteers to complete the process.

After the vote, Mukarugwiza told Saturday Times that she was very happy to have finally exercised her right by voting by secret ballot.

She said that this was her second time voting but the first time, she relied on an aide, who she told her choice of candidate and received help throughout the process.

"We had been advocating for this and all I can say now is thanking National Electoral Commission (NEC) for finally allowing me to vote without someone helping me or getting to know how I voted. I was in the booth alone and was able to cast my vote by myself,” Mukarugwiza said.

A teacher at an inclusive school in Masaka, Constance Mukantwari says in previous polls she couldn’t know exactly who she had voted for, but she is sure of whom she picked yesterday.

"Well, by that time I entirely relied on a young boy to cast the vote for me, but went through the process by myself. The one helping you could be told by his parents to vote a different candidate rather than vote for the one you want,” Mukantwari said.

The head of Cyimo Polling Station in Masaka, Janvière Uwamahoro, said all went well for visually impaired voters and her job was made easy as the voters seemed to know the process and were familiar with the braille writing.

Jacques Mugisha, who lost his sight at age 11, hailed NEC for valuing their worries and considering their right adding that he is among the people who pushed for this.

"There is independence now, whenever you are doing something independently you feel happy, it is also respecting basic human rights, before it was always a challenge to trust you have voted a leader of your choice,” said Mugisha, who voted from Nyamata Catholic Primary School.

Epimaque Ndayisaba, who lives in Remera Sector of Gasabo District, cast his vote at Petit Stade-Remera and lauded the efforts by NEC to respect the rights of the people with disability, especially visually impaired voters.

"A volunteer helped me enter the voting room, but I told him to get out for me to vote in secret as the law requires. We argued before that the previous voting process wasn’t fair for us. We finally voted as we wished,” he said.

Ndayisaba asked that the victor of the presidential polls ensure continued improvement of lives of the people with disability, saying there were a lot more needed despite what has been done for them.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw