The national consultative forum of political organizations (NFPO) says that preparations for next month's presidential and parliamentary elections are advanced, with the forum providing financial and civil assistance to all political parties under its umbrella.

Constitutionally recognized in Rwanda, NFPO is a platform for dialogue and exchange of ideas among political organizations on the country's problems and national policies.

At a meeting which took place on Thursday, June 13, in Kigali, the forum's spokesperson, Abbas Mukama, pointed out that efforts are being invested in training leaders of political parties on campaign strategy, manifesto formulation, leveraging social media, and public speaking, among others.

"As usual we aim at training heads of political parties and shape them better for the upcoming campaigns, and where we cannot do it, we provide funds to support the process," he said

According to Mukama, the government provided a total of Rwf550 million as the 2024-2025 budget support to the forum. This, he said, is up from Rwf400 million for the past fiscal year.

While there is a funding gap, Mukama maintained that the budget keeps increasing, enabling the forum to scale up it's activities.

"As part of our action plan, we look to train more political leaders, and also increase women participation in the process. All that needs additional funding," he said.

According to the National Electoral Commission (NEC), the final list of the number of Rwandans ready to cast their votes in the forthcoming elections will be announced on Friday, June 13. Preliminary results indicate that the number has hiked compared to the previous elections.

On the same day, NEC is also expected to announce the final list of presidential candidates.

Political party leaders were also tipped on leveraging the power of social media during the upcoming campaigns.

Eligible candidates will kickstart their campaigns on June 22.

The NFPO is a permanent framework for capacity building for member political organizations. The same platform is used in mediating conflict in case there is a misunderstanding between parties.

This is a developing story.