Monica Mukandamage 76, swears upon the bible to continue by Kagame as her president come 2017
Rwandans have said that they have already made up their mind on who is going to be next president come 2017 elections, describing the on-going parliamentary consultations on the constitutional amendment as a wastes of time.
Rwandan lawmakers on July 20, 2015, began a national tour consulting citizens on possible constitutional changes to listen to citizens views on whether they want an amendemnt and subsquently have Paul Kagame get another term in power.
The legislature move follows numerous petitions from across the country; wanting President Paul Kagame re-elected by 2017.
More than three million petitions have been submitted to the Rwandan parliament requesting to have article 101 of the constitution amended, according to which the president can stay in power only for two seven-year-long terms.
Many Rwandans now say that they signed the petition because of facts which they can see for themselves ever since Paul Kagame took power. Some of these range from security, peace and stability, social and economic development.
Celestin Kajangwe, a resident of Gasabo district told members of parliament that Kagame is the man who has a vision for Rwandans and many residents have made up their mind to re-elect him as several times as possible.
“Why are you (parliamentarians) asking us our opinion? Instead we should focus on fighting our enemies who want Rwanda to return to the dark days where we have come from” Kajangwe said
Just like Kajangwe, Francois Sebaganwa, also re-echoes the same understanding of what Rwandans want. “We have come here to vote for Kagame to stay in power and we shall do it once we have the opportunity and please note this, we are more than ready to continue with him” he said.
Though the Rwandan government has faced criticism from the western critics and some governments threatening to withhold aid to Rwanda, Sebaganwa says “as Rwandans we are prepared to make the voice and choice heard”.
During the ongoing consultations, the Rwandan members of parliament have made it clear that this time they need to get the views of citizens and the article 101 will not be amended without the people’s voice.