New Speaker opens up on her life, vision for the Chamber of Deputies

The determination to fight various forms of segregation which constituted serious human rights violations, in her country, inspired Donatille Mukabalisa, the new Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, to join politics.

In an interview, last week, Mukabalisa, who studied law, said she joined politics so that she could ably participate in ensuring that today’s Rwandan society would not experience the injustices of segregation, as was the case before 1994.

“I grew up in a country where people suffered very much from different forms of segregation and human rights were seriously violated. Many people did not have rights in their country,” Mukabalisa said.

Mukabalisa, who subscribes to the opposition Liberal Party, was elected Speaker on October 4.

Before the September parliamentary elections, she resigned her Senatorial seat to contest for a slot in the Lower House.

Before joining Parliament, Mukabalisa worked in various fields, including working for the United Nations Development Programme in Rwanda for 16 years.

The Speaker, in the interview, reveals her bio-data, background and religious stance and shows how she is the person for the job by taking us into her vision for the Third Chamber of Deputies.

New Speaker opens up on her life, vision for the Chamber of Deputies