NEC to begin election evaluation

KIGALI - The National Election Commission (NEC) will soon begin a countrywide evaluation of the recently concluded Presidential elections, the Executive Secretary of the Commission; Charles Munyaneza has revealed. Munyaneza told The New Times yesterday that following the conclusion of the elections, NEC officials will visit all the provinces of the country to evaluate and also hold meetings with several stakeholders before compiling a final report. “We are happy with how the elections went. We are preparing to start field visits that will kick off on August 23 to 30 in the provinces where we will meet stakeholders, including local community leaders and security teams,” he said Munyaneza also said that NEC will celebrate the success of the elections and also reward the polling stations that performed best in terms of preparing their sites and the turn up. He added that his office was meeting and holding discussions with election observers from all corners of the world. “Right now, we are receiving observers with whom we are holding consultative discussions and also receiving their reports and we hope to learn from each other how elections can be better run in future,” he said NEC yesterday confirmed that President Paul Kagame had won 93.08 per cent of votes cast in Monday’s elections. The announcement is in line with the law that stipulates that the official winner shall be announced if no one has contested his or her victory. The three other candidates conceded defeat on Wednesday and they include Dr Jean Damascene Ntawukuriryayo of PSD who got 5-15 percent, Prosper Higiro from PL who garnered 1.37 percent and PPC’s Dr Alvera Mukabaramba who managed only 0.4 percent. Ends