The National Consultative Forum of Political Organisations (NFPO) which has been closely monitoring the recently concluded elections has described the exercise as open, fair and a transparent one. This was highlighted during a consultative meeting between the political organisations and the Ministry of Local Government. A total of 11 political parties had deployed 81 observers at different polling stations nationwide, seven from each political party who included three females. Tabling their report on the elections, Theoneste Gisagara, the Executive Secretary of NFPO, lauded the organisers, saying that the exercise was fair and equitable. “Elections were timely and people looked to have a sense of what was happening as candidates were given equal opportunities to campaign during the exercise,” he recalled. Gisagara added that other aspects that convinced the observers included the aspect that the Electoral College voted in a confidential and liberal way, no vote counting complaints were received and the attendance was very high in all sites. “Hence, we find that the local government elections were conducted in a safe, transparent and free environment,” he read from the report. The report was then approved by members of the political organisations. Fatou Harelimana, the Chairperson of NFPO said; “As members of political organisations, we are very proud that the elections were fair for the people and we hail the electoral council for the hard work.” Jean Marie Vianney Gatabazi, the Minister of Local Government rooted for the involvement of female candidates and citizen representation during elections. “The elections saw over 325,000 leaders voted, which means that at least three out of ten Rwandans are leaders, indicating a high proportion of representation,” he noted. The Minister also added that women participation has increased by 5 percent compared to the previous cohort of leaders.
