Nursing mum joins parliamentary race in Rwanda

Her three-month-old daughter swaddled on her back, Jeanne d’Arc Nyiramahirwe is determined to make her voice heard as she runs for a parliamentary seat in Rwanda’s elections

She is among 199 women campaigning for a place in parliament, which reserves 24 out of 80 seats in the lower house for female candidates.

Rwanda holds legislative and presidential elections next week, with long-time leader Paul Kagame widely expected to extend his iron grip on the Great Lakes nation.

Despite rights groups raising alarm bells over political repression ahead of the polls, first-time candidate Nyiramahirwe — among 33 women competing for four seats in northern Burera District — was sure she would make her presence felt.

“Politics is not a speciality for the wealthy. In Rwanda, it is for everyone,” she told AFP in the capital Kigali in May, having made the two-hour journey from her hometown to register her candidacy.

There, the 38-year-old told a small gathering she will “preserve President Kagame’s achievements” — echoing other candidates who are careful to steer clear of criticising government policies.

Colourful if tightly controlled campaigning has seen huge crowds supporting Kagame’s Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) party, while independent candidates have scrabbled along as best they can.

Nyiramahirwe, a maths teacher for 15 years and a farmer, is a member of the RPF but is running as an independent — a requirement for anyone vying for seats under the women’s quota.

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