Rwanda’s National Electoral Commission (NEC) has provisionally approved 47 candidates to contest the upcoming election for the youth representative seat in the Chamber of Deputies, following the resignation of Venuste Icyimpaye.
The electoral body received a total of 59 applications from people seeking to fill the vacant parliamentary seat.
After reviewing the submissions, NEC provisionally cleared 47 candidates, while 12 were rejected for failing to meet the required eligibility criteria.
The provisional list was announced on Monday, marking another step in the process to replace Icyimpaye, who recently resigned from Parliament.
NEC is expected to publish the final list of approved candidates on August 25, 2026, ahead of the election scheduled for September 2, 2026.
Unlike parliamentary seats elected through universal adult suffrage, the youth representative is chosen through a specific electoral college.
The electoral college comprises members of the Executive Committee of the National Youth Council at the national level as well as members of the Council’s executive committees from each district across the country.
The successful candidate will take up the vacant youth representative seat in the Chamber of Deputies and serve for the remainder of the current parliamentary term.
