Kagame, Rwanda’s de facto chief since 1994, faces solely two challengers after courts banned his most outstanding critics.
Rwandans have begun voting within the nation’s presidential and legislative elections, that are poised to increase longtime chief Paul Kagame’s tenure for one more 5 years.
Polling stations opened at about 7am native time (05:00GMT) on Monday throughout the East African nation, the place greater than 9 million persons are registered to take part, reported Agence France-Presse.
Kagame, who has been Rwanda’s de facto chief for 3 many years, is nearly sure to retain the presidency, dealing with solely two challengers after Rwandan courts banned his most outstanding critics.
The outlook mirrors that of the final election in 2017, when Kagame dominated his rivals with near 99 p.c of the vote.
Who’s dealing with Kagame?
Frank Habineza, chief of Rwanda’s Democratic Inexperienced Occasion, and impartial Philippe Mpayimana had been the one two candidates authorised to run towards Kagame out of eight candidates.
Rwandan courts rejected appeals from outstanding opposition figures Bernard Ntaganda and Victoire Ingabire to take away earlier convictions that successfully disqualified them from the race.
The Nationwide Electoral Fee additionally barred high-profile Kagame critic Diane Rwigara, citing points together with her paperwork – the second time she was barred from operating.
Forward of the election, rights group Amnesty Worldwide stated Rwanda’s opposition faces “extreme restrictions… in addition to threats, arbitrary detention, prosecution, trumped-up prices, killings and enforced disappearances”.
Kagame’s legacy
With 65 p.c of the nation’s inhabitants aged beneath 30, Kagame – who’s operating for a fourth time period – is the one chief most Rwandans have ever recognized.
The 66-year-old is credited with rebuilding a traumatised nation after the genocide unleashed by Hutu fighters that killed almost 800,000 folks, primarily Tutsi but in addition Hutu centrists, in 1994.
However his regime is broadly criticised by rights teams as autocratic, stifling the media and political opposition with arbitrary detentions, killings and enforced disappearances.
Overseas, it faces accusations of stoking instability within the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, the place a UN report says Rwandan troops are preventing alongside M23 rebels within the troubled east. Kigali has denied the allegations.
Kagame has additionally overseen controversial constitutional amendments that shortened presidential phrases from seven to 5 years and reset the clock for the Rwandan chief, permitting him to probably rule till 2034.
But regardless of his many critics, Kagame enjoys nice help at dwelling, having overseen financial development charges of a mean of seven.2 p.c between 2012 and 2022 and the event of infrastructure together with hospitals and roads.
“He has made nice achievements, he has helped our youngsters to go to highschool, elevated the numbers of academics, he additionally gave us medical insurance,” Venantia Nyirangendo, 51, stated throughout a rally for Kagame’s Rwandan Patriotic Entrance (RPF) social gathering on Saturday.
Parallel parliamentary elections
For the primary time, Rwanda’s parliamentary election is being held alongside the presidential vote, with greater than 500 candidates vying for 80 seats within the Chamber of Deputies.
Of these, 53 are elected by common suffrage. The RPF at present holds 40 seats and its allies 11, whereas Habineza’s Inexperienced Occasion has two MPs.
One other 24 spots are reserved for girls, two for teenagers and one for folks with disabilities. All candidates for these seats have to be impartial, and oblique elections might be held on Tuesday.
