Mukanirwa began women's rights activist work in 1989. In 2001 she was serving as vice president of Promotion et Appui aux Initiatives Feminines (PAIF), a Congolese women's rights organisation. On 26 January she was arrested by Congolese authorities for suspected involvement in the assassination of President Laurent-Désiré Kabila. She was released the following month and subsequently moved to Canada to avoid political persecution, but continued to work for PAIF. In the early 2000s she condemned rape of women in the eastern Congo. In 2002, Amnesty International accorded her its Ginetta Sagan Award for her work for women's rights and peace promotion.
