Opposition Democratic Green Party of Rwanda (DGPR) Dr. Frank Habineza, has submitted all credentials for Presidential candidacy to the National Electoral Commission, on May 20,2024.
Dr. Habineza is the second candidate after President Paul Kagame last week, to submit the nomination dossier.
Before submitting his candidacy, the opposition environmentalist party and DGPR leader announced on twitter, “ Today, at 3 PM, I will submit my Presidential candidature at the National Electoral Commission headquarters.”
In the last presidential election held in 2017, the opposition leader was the flag bearer of Green Party who challenged the Ruling RPF Inkontanyi.
Dr. Habineza said, that the DGPR will continue to work towards promoting development and uplifting the welfare of all Rwandans, including women, youth, and communities at large, in order to achieve comprehensive progress and development goals for all Rwandans for the next five years (2024-2029).
Further, he expressed confidence for victory in the 2024 election, the party will perform better compared to the 2017 elections because DGPR-Green was still in the process of rebuilding itself. Now, the party has lasted over 15 years.
“While we fell short in the last election, it’s important to remember we faced a united front of nine other parties. It wasn’t just the RPF candidate, but a combined effort against us.”
Democratic Green chief emphasized the importance of media development by calling for the establishment of a capacity fund accessible to both independent and national media outlets. This fund would provide journalists with loans to support their professional growth and foster a free media environment.
The National Electoral Commission (NEC) expects to announce final approval of candidates on June 14, 2024. Campaign activities will then begin from June 22 to July 13, 2024.