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LITTLE TO WORRY ABOUT: President Paul Kagame
waves his cap at supporters at a campaign rally in Kigali this
week |
By Grace Matsiko
in Kigali
THOUSANDS of Rwandan refugees
living in Uganda have been barred from voting in the country’s
presidential elections, the National Election Commission (NEC)
official has said.
The NEC’s Information and Communications
Officer, Moses Bukasa, said Rwandans who are out of the country and do not
hold refugee status will vote from the country’s embassies all over the
world.
In the last national referendum, over 7,000 Rwandans in the
Diaspora voted.
“It is against the laws for Rwandans who are
refugees to participate in an election. Those in Nakivale (Mbarara
District) will not vote” Bukasa said in an interview on Thursday.
There are thousands of Rwandans refugees in Uganda, Tanzania and
other countries who have fled their homeland as a result of its past
political upheavals among them the 1994 genocide which left close to a
million Tutsis and moderate Hutus dead.
Information obtained at
the NEC’s Documentation and Accreditation Centre indicate that 1,810 local
and international observers expected to oversee the election. About 226
foreign observers have already confirmed their participation.
About 50 foreign journalists have been accredited to cover the
exercise.
The voting will start at 6:00am and end at 3:00pm
Counting of votes starts at 4:00pm.
There are 3,985 million
voters, almost half the tiny country’s population of eight million.
About 12,000 voting chambers, each catering for up to 500 voters,
have been established, mainly at public institutions like schools.
Temporary shelters have been set up at areas where there are no
public facilities like classrooms.
Over 45,000 Rwandan officials are
to supervise the voting exercise but, as a result of the financial
constraints facing the electoral body following refusal by the donor
community to finance the exercise, most of the officials have been asked
to work as volunteers.
Some countries have provided materials and
technical assistance but not cash.
The total budget for the
presidential and parliamentary elections exercises stand at FRW3.5b (about
sh13b). The presidential exercise alone will take up to
FRW2.5bn.
There are four candicates contesting the presidency. President
Paul Kagame, the incumbent is widely expected to win. His closest
challenger is post-genocide Prime Minister Faustin Twagiramungu.
Other candidates are Alivera Mukaberamba, the only woman in the
race, and Nepomuscene Nayinzira.
Tomorrow’s election is the first
multi-party poll in Rwanda and is widely being seen as a test, not only of
how far the country has come since the days of ethnic politics, but also
of how ready it is to embrace democracy.
Kagame dissolved the
parliament on Friday evening, telling lawmakers that the elections
heralded a new chapter of democracy in Rwanda.
Published on: Sunday, 24th August,
2003 |
