The Parliament of Rwanda ( French: ''Parlement du Rwanda'';

Kinyarwanda Kinyarwanda, Rwandan or Rwanda, officially known as Ikinyarwanda, is a Bantu language and a dialect of the Rwanda-Rundi language that is spoken in Rwanda and adjacent parts of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda (where t ...

: ''Inteko Ishinga Amategeko y’u Rwanda'') has consisted of two chambers since 2003: *The Senate (French: ''Sénat''; Kinyarwanda: ''Sena'') (

Upper Chamber An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restri ...

) *The Chamber of Deputies (French: ''Chambre des députés''; Kinyarwanda: ''Umutwe w’Abadepite'') (

Lower Chamber A lower house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or oth ...

)

Legislative History

National Assembly 1961–1973

Rwanda had unicameral legislature, National Assembly of Rwanda, established in January 1961. It was dissolved following the coup d'état of 1973.

National Development Council 1982–1994

Rwanda had unicameral legislature, National Development Council of Rwanda from 1982 to 1994.

Transitional National Assembly 1994–2003

Unicameral Transitional National Assembly of Rwanda was established in 1994 following

Rwandan Civil War The Rwandan Civil War was a large-scale civil war in Rwanda which was fought between the Rwandan Armed Forces, representing the country's government, and the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) from 1October 1990 to 18 July 1994. The war aro ...

. It was replaced in 2003 by a bicameral legislature.

Women in Parliament

Rwanda's parliament has the highest percentage of women in a single house parliament worldwide. The government has reserved 24 out of the 80 seats in the Chamber of Deputies for women. The 24 seats allocated to women are divided up between each province and the city of Kigali, where they are elected by an assembly made up of various councils and committees members. More women were granted seats due to the effects of the

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 H ...

on the population. After the Genocide against the Tutsi the population was made up of more women than men, and this was reflected in the makeup of Parliament.

References