Republic of Rwanda
Member
The Republic of Rwanda
Demographic features and population
Rwanda also known as the land of many hills is a small and centralized country dominated by rugged hills and fertile volcanic soil. Her capital city is Kigali. She has exerted disproportionate influence over the African Great Lakes region for centuries. It is located in Eastern African bordering Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania and Uganda. Rwanda covers a total of 26,338 sq km. the dry land covers 24,668 sq km while water occupies 1,670 sq km with a population of 13,173,730 million people.
The country has temperate two rainy seasons (February to April, November to January); mild in the mountains with frost and snow. The terrain is mostly grassy uplands and hills; relief is mountainous with altitude declining from west to east.
Kinyarwanda is the national language while both French and English can be used as the official languages. As members of the EAC, they have adopted Swahili/Kiswahili as a regional, local and even commercial language.
Ongeza Title
Economic Overview
The country has vast natural resources such as gold, cassiterite (tin ore), wolframite (tungsten ore), methane, hydropower and arable land. Further, her industries process cement, agricultural products, small-scale beverages, soap, furniture, shoes, plastic goods, textiles, and cigarettes. Rwanda exports gold, refined petroleum, coffee, tea and tin while her currency is the Rwandan franc (RWF). The government has embraced an expansionary fiscal policy to reduce poverty by improving education, infrastructure, and foreign and domestic investment. Rwanda consistently ranks well for ease of doing business and transparency.
Governance Structure
The Executive is composed of the President who is the Head of the State, the Prime Minister who heads the government and a council of ministers who are directly appointed by the President
The Legislature is the law-making arm of the government. In Rwanda, the legislature is bicameral Parliament consists of a Senate (26 seats; 12 members indirectly elected by local councils, 8 appointed by the president, 4 appointed by the Political Organizations Forum – a body of registered political parties, and 2 selected by institutions of higher learning; members serve 8-year terms)
Chamber of Deputies or Chambre des Deputes (80 seats; 53 members directly elected by proportional representation vote, 24 women selected by special interest groups, and 3 selected by youth and disability organizations; members serve 5-year terms).
Safety and Security
In the post-Rwanda Genocide period, the country has enjoyed and experienced stability and peace, as a result of the lessons learned from the genocide disaster. Rwanda has had transnational land disputes with her bordering States. Examples include disputes with Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Uganda. She hosts a number of refugees from her neighboring countries who have flown from their countries for refuge.
Membership to Regional Blocs
Rwanda is a member of the East Africa Community (EAC), RECSA, UN, AU, ICGLR, COMESA, and SADC among other bodies.