Author: Wycliffe Nyamasege

The order stipulates that the election for 12 Senators elected in accordance with national administrative entities will be held on Monday, September 16, 2024, while the polling date for one Senator from public institutions of higher learning and one Senator from private institutions of higher learning will be held on Tuesday, September 17, 2024.

The electoral campaign period for senatorial candidates will kick off on Monday, August 26, 2024, and close on Saturday, September 14, 2024.

President Paul Kagame, in the order gazetted on June 16, tasked the Prime Minister, the Minister of Local Government, and the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning to implement the order.

The Parliament of Rwanda is bicameral. It consists of two chambers: The Senate (Upper House) and The Chamber of Deputies (Lower House). Election for members of the Chamber of Deputies is slated for next month – July.

{{Composition of the Senate
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The Senate comprises 26 members including 12 senators elected by the specific councils in accordance with the administrative entities; eight senators appointed by the Head of State; four senators designated by the Forum of Political organizations; one senator elected among lecturers and researchers of Public Universities and higher learning institutions; and another senator elected among lecturers and researchers of Private Universities and higher learning institutions.

The House is charged with various roles including representing their constituents, passing legislation and scrutinizing and overseeing executive action.

The Senators are also tasked with approving appointments of state officials as well as supervising the application of the fundamental principles.

The leadership of the two countries pledged their support for Odinga’s candidacy for the regional role during his visit to Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe, on Sunday, where he attended the funeral service of the deceased Malawian Vice President, Saulos Chilima. The Vice President and nine other people died in a plane crash last week in Malawi’s northern region of Mzimba.

After the event, Odinga held talks with Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera at State House in Lilongwe, where the Head of State endorsed the former Kenyan Prime Minister’s bid to head the AU Commission.

Odinga was accompanied by two of his AUC campaign strategists: former Kenya Ambassador to the United States Elkanah Odembo and ex-Nyeri Deputy Governor Caroline Karugu.

Odembo told Kenya’s Daily Nation that Odinga also had a lengthy telephone conversation with Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, who, like the Malawi Head of State, pledged to promote Odinga’s bid among member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

“Both Zambia and Malawi not only assured Kenya of their support but also promised to campaign for [Odinga] among their SADC partner states,” Odembo stated.

The two countries now join a growing list of nations that have pledged to support Odinga’s candidacy.

President Ruto last week announced that he had secured support from Algeria during the 50th G7 Summit in Apulia, Italy, after talks with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on the sidelines of the high-level forum.

“I have held a discussion with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune… [who] has pledged support for Kenya’s Africa Union Commission chairmanship bid,” President Ruto wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Other countries that have endorsed Odinga’s candidacy include Rwanda, Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania, and South Sudan.

Odinga, who previously served as African Union High Representative for Infrastructure Development, is seeking to succeed Chad’s Moussa Faki in elections slated for February 2025.

The leader of the Azimio la Umoja – One Kenya coalition in Kenya received a huge boost in March after the African Union Executive Council unanimously resolved that candidates for the position of the next chairperson of the AU Commission would be nominated by the Eastern African regional states.

Other candidates eyeing the seat are former Seychelles Vice President Vincent Meriton, Djibouti’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mahmoud Youssouf, and ex-Somali Foreign Minister Fawzia Yusuf.

Speaking during an interview with RBA, the Head of State dismissed the series of stories dubbed “Rwanda Classified” as sponsored, saying the individuals behind the campaign “are just wasting their time”.

“I was seeing a conglomerate of journalists who are really up in arms against us. But these are just wasting their time. They should have used their money and energy for something else. Rwanda is here and will prosper every year in spite of them,” President Kagame stated.

The government had earlier accused the group of journalists mostly European and drawn from 17 media outlets of a well-orchestrated plan to dent Rwanda’s image ahead of the general elections slated for July.

In a statement to newsrooms on May 28, the Office of the Government Spokesperson said the claims were not new.

“Rwandans have come to expect this kind of media flurry by the usual actors, timed to disrupt our upcoming presidential and legislative elections.

“In a similar vein, along Rwanda’s western border, in the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, there is a parallel attempt to protect the genocidal militia FDLR, in the hopes of hurting Rwanda and in support of the open call for “regime change” by the President of the DRC,” the government said.

The government maintained that the “malicious” campaign would not “materialise”.

“This objective will not materialise because of the strong unity and accountable political system that Rwandans have built over the years. Rwanda’s democratic processes will continue, and Rwandans will make their choices about who they want to lead them into the future, peacefully and confidently.”

The “Rwanda Classified” project is orchestrated by “Forbidden Stories,” a platform and website run by the Freedom Voices Network. The Journalists’ association was created in November 2017 by French journalist Laurent Richard.