The recent parliamentary elections were marred by irregularities and malpractices, a report released two months later by the United States Embassy observer mission indicates.

The American embassy in Kigali dispatched an observer mission to monitor the September 16-18 polls in which the ruling Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) retained majority seats in the lower chamber of parliament.

In a statement released recently, the US commended Rwandans for their participation in a peaceful and orderly election for the Chamber of Deputies in the national parliament. The statement however also highlights irregularities noted during the polls.

Accredited by electoral commission

The observer teams dispatched on election day, September 16, were accredited by the National Electoral Commission to all four provinces and Kigali City. In their report, the observers say the irregularities render the poll not entirely fair.

“These teams noted that, while the elections were calm and well organised, there were irregularities and issues of concern that potentially undermined the integrity of the vote,” the observers said.

“These included the presence of local and security officials in polling rooms, multiple voting and local election officials filling out ballots in the absence of voters.”

The US mission also noted that, once vote counting began, Rwandan electoral officials denied US embassy observers access to polling station, district and national level tallying centres.

“We were thus unable to match vote counts from individual polling stations with district and national level results, making it impossible to verify the accuracy of the final vote count and official participation rate,” the observers added.

“In free, fair and transparent elections, candidates, political parties, civil society organisations and observers enjoy full access to the electoral process.

Will of the people

“This access is also crucial for ensuring that the will of the people can be heard.”

This is the first time the US has criticised elections in Rwanda, in what many see as a change of attitude in diplomacy by the Americans who have, over the past 19 years, supported all electoral and political processes in Rwanda.

The US mission officials declined to comment further on the report, saying the findings were made public.

The US report comes on the heels of a Commonwealth Experts Team report which also highlighted that the parliamentary polls were characterised by unfair practices which edged out independent candidates.

READ: Observers declare Rwanda polls free and fair

The report says independent candidates — including Gilbert Mwenedata, Venuste Bizirema, Leonille Mutuyimana and Clovis Ganza — unfairly lost out due to an unrealistic threshold in the Constitution that required them to raise at least five per cent of the total votes cast.

While parties which have a strong presence were only required to submit a list of not more 80 candidates, the law says independent candidates must submit a list of at least 600 registered voters.

The Commonwealth experts said in their report published earlier this month that the requirements set for independent candidates — which include raising a minimum of 12 persons domiciled in each district — made it almost impossible for the four candidates who managed to make to the list to win a seat.

Frank Habineza, the head of the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda, was among those who challenged the electoral process.

“We want people to vote their preferred individual candidates in their respective constituencies, rather than voting for parties,” argues Habineza. “That way, we will have favourable competition for all and direct representation.”

He said the current procedure does not make MPs accountable and answerable to the people.

The experts said each successful party had only 1.85 per cent of the total vote for each MP elected. RPF got 41 MPs with 76.2 per cent, PSD seven (13 per cent) and PL five (9.3 per cent.).