Paul Kagame expected to extend 24-year-rule as Rwanda votes
Rwandans are casting their votes in the country’s presidential and legislative elections today and the general feeling is that longtime leader Paul Kagame will secure another five-year term.
Local outlets report that polling stations opened at around 7 AM local time on Monday, as more than nine million registered voters prepared to participate.
Kagame, who has led Rwanda for nearly 30 years, is predicted by analysts to win the presidency again. His path to victory is made easier by the fact that only two challengers remain after courts banned his most prominent critics.
In the last election in 2017, Kagame achieved a landslide victory with nearly 99 per cent of the vote. As 65% of the Rwandan population is under 30, Paul Kagame is the only leader most of the citizens have known.
Who is Running Against Paul Kagame?
Kagame faces two opponents in this election: Frank Habineza, the leader of Rwanda’s Democratic Green Party, and independent candidate Philippe Mpayimana. Out of eight applicants, these were the only two candidates approved to run against Kagame.
Prominent opposition figures Bernard Ntaganda and Victoire Ingabire were disqualified by the courts due to previous convictions. Diane Rwigara, a well-known critic of Kagame, was also barred from running for a second time, with the National Electoral Commission citing issues with her paperwork.
Paul Kagame’s Regime: Praised for Development, Criticized for Repression”
Rwandan President Paul Kagame’s government is widely criticized by rights groups for being autocratic. These groups accuse his regime of suppressing the media and political opposition through arbitrary detentions, killings, and enforced disappearances.
Internationally, Kagame’s administration faces allegations of causing instability in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A UN report claims that Rwandan troops are fighting alongside M23 rebels in eastern Congo, a charge that Kigali denies.
Kagame has also implemented controversial constitutional changes. These amendments shortened presidential terms from seven to five years and reset the term limits for Kagame, potentially allowing him to remain in power until 2034.
Ahead of the election, Amnesty International reported that Rwanda’s opposition faces significant obstacles, including severe restrictions, threats, arbitrary detentions, prosecutions on trumped-up charges, killings, and enforced disappearances.
Despite the criticism, Kagame enjoys significant support within Rwanda. The 66-year is credited with rebuilding a traumatised Rwanda after the genocide unleashed by Hutu fighters that killed nearly 800,000 people, mainly Tutsi but also Hutu centrists, in 1994.
Under his leadership, the country experienced average economic growth rates of 7.2 percent between 2012 and 2022. His administration has also developed infrastructure, including hospitals and roads.
As voting continues, all eyes are on the results to see if Kagame will extend his long-standing leadership of the East African nation.
