Mukayijore to replace Nyirarukundo at Pan-African Parliament

Rwanda’s Chamber of Deputies on Wednesday, July 23, elected Hon. Suzanne Mukayijore to represent Rwanda in the Pan-African Parliament (PAP). She won with 76 votes out of 80 parliamentarians who were present at the plenary sitting.

Mukayijore holds a bachelor’s degree in management and economics and has been a Member of Parliament for 11 years.

Before joining the Parliament, she served as a manager at the People’s Bank (BPR) for 10 years from 1995 to 2005; and a logistics officer at the workers’ medical insurance (RAMA) from 2005 to 2008.

Speaking after her election, Mukayijore promised to honour the trust that the Chamber of Deputies had in her by effectively assuming her responsibilities and ensuring good collaboration with her colleagues to contribute to the development of Africa.

“I will encourage the African diaspora to actively partake in the development of the continent,” she said.

“Africa should be self-reliant. We should join our efforts with a converging goal to achieve the continent's self-reliance and dignity,” she observed.

Hon. Mukayijore replaces Hon. Ignatienne Nyirarukundo who was among five member Rwanda’s delegation to PAP, but moved to the Ministry of Local Government as Minister of State in charge of Social Affairs in November 2019.

Until her replacement, Hon. Ignatienne Nyirarukundo was the Chairperson of PAP’s Permanent Committee on Justice and Human Rights.

Hon. Ignatienne Nyirarukundo

Under her watch, the Committee meticulously worked on a Model Police Law in Africa which successfully scaled through Second Reading at the Third Ordinary Session of the Pan African Parliament in October 2019.

In her presentation to the PAP plenary, Hon. Ignatienne Nyirarukundo stated that the Model Police Law in Africa is meant to be “a piece of legislation that establishes clear principles and formal guidelines for the mandate, structure, operations and performance of law enforcement agencies to address the complex issues faced by police organizations in their engagement with State, community and oversight actors”.  

The Model Police Law when adopted will complement several African Union instruments such as the AU Agenda 2063, the African Charter on Democracy, the AU Security Sector Reform Policy Framework that promotes harmonization and consistency in reform across the continent and the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights. Her contributions to the institutional development of the continental parliament will remain invaluable.

As the legislative organ of the African Union, PAP is intended to ensure the full participation of African peoples in the economic development and integration of the continent and each member state is represented by five parliamentarians.

PAP parliamentarians are designated by the legislatures of the member state and pending the ratification of the Revised Protocol, exercises advisory and consultative oversight powers within the AU

The Parliament sits in Midrand, South Africa.