Agnes Mukabaranga is a

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

n politician. Mukabaranga is a member of the Christian Democratic Party (PDC) and member of both the

Pan-African Parliament The Pan-African Parliament (PAP), also known as the African Parliament, is the legislative body of the African Union. It held its inaugural session in March 2004. The Parliament exercises oversight, and has advisory and consultative powers, ha ...

and former member of both the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

and the Rwandan Senate. She is a lawyer by profession.

Political career

Mukabaranga was appointed an inaugural member of the transitional

, which was set up following the 1994

Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed Hutu ...

, and was loosely based on the Arusha Accords agreed the previous year. In 2003, a new permanent constitution was approved for the country in a referendum, which established a multi-party state with a bicameral parliament consisting of a senate and a chamber of deputies. Mukabaranga was appointed to the new senate following the election of

Paul Kagame Paul Kagame (; born 23 October 1957) is a Rwandan politician and former military officer who is the 4th and current president of Rwanda since 2000. He previously served as a commander of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a Uganda-based rebel ...

as the first president under the new constitution. She was one of 39 women elected or appointed to the parliament that year, compared with 41 men. Promising to fight for justice and reconciliation in the country following the genocide, she emphasised the role of women in the process, saying "Women are more prepared to make compromises, are more peace-loving and more conciliatory". In 2013, having previously left the senate, Mukabaranga was elected for a six month term as the spokesperson for the National Consultative Forum for Political Parties, a role she held jointly with a nurse and political newcomer, Sylvie Mpongera of the Rwanda Socialist Party (PSR).

Personal life

Agnes Mukabaranga lost her brothers in the Rwandan genocide, and is a mother to four children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mukabaranga, Agnes Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Members of the Pan-African Parliament from Rwanda Members of the Senate (Rwanda) Centrist Democratic Party (Rwanda) politicians 21st-century Rwandan women politicians 21st-century Rwandan politicians Women members of the Pan-African Parliament