Aloysie Cyanzayire

Aloysie Cyanzayire is a Rwandan lawyer, judge, public servant. She is currently serving as justice of the Supreme Court of Rwanda since August 2018 and was its first female president between 2003 and 2011.

Personal life Born on February 11, 1964, Cyanzayire grew up in the Ruhango District in the Southern Province of Rwanda, as the oldest in a Christian family of eight whose parents worked as farmers. She has expressed herself as a person of faith publicly since.

Education She attended one of Rwanda’s first science schools created solely for girls, where she obtained a scientific educational background. Following the cessation of the conflict, Cyanzayire took care of three orphans, two of whom were the children of her brother-in-law who had been killed during the genocide.

In December 2003, she was elected by the Rwandan senate to be the fifth president and first female president of the Supreme Court of Rwanda, where she served a full eight-year term from 2004 until 2012. During this time, she also served as the chairperson of the High Council of the Judiciary. In 2018, the cabinet voted to reappoint her as Supreme Court justice for a second time;

Causes and contributions Cyanzariye has been recognised for her contributions to the field of law and public service. Among the areas of recognition has been her work against corruption for which she won an Appreciation Award by the East African Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities. That same year, Cyanzayire had appealed for a specially designated court or special desk within the Rwandan legal system to be deal with corruption cases.

Over the years, Cyanzire has also used her platform to encourage state officials and public servants to promote gender, and at the same time noted that men’s rights should also be protected saying that "hat we are targeting is a totally balanced society". In 2011, she received a Recognition Certificate by the Women Leaders Network in collaboration with the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion, during an event in which Rwanda’s First Lady, Jeannette Kagame, gave a keynote address. Together with her good friend from law school at the National University of Rwanda, the Rwandan diplomat and politician, Solina Nyirahabimana, Cyanzayire played a significant role in encouraging women to join the Rwandan judiciary, particularly during her tenure as chairperson of the High Council of the Judiciary when she was in a good position to recruit women judges.