Kagame, Rwanda’s de facto chief since 1994, faces solely two challengers after courts banned his most distinguished 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 individuals are registered to take part, reported Agence France-Presse.
Kagame, who has been Rwanda’s de facto chief for 3 many years, is sort of sure to retain the presidency, going through solely two challengers after Rwandan courts banned his most distinguished 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 going through Kagame?
Frank Habineza, chief of Rwanda’s Democratic Inexperienced Social gathering, and unbiased Philippe Mpayimana have been the one two candidates accepted to run towards Kagame out of eight candidates.
Rwandan courts rejected appeals from distinguished 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 along with her paperwork – the second time she was barred from working.
Forward of the election, rights group Amnesty Worldwide mentioned Rwanda’s opposition faces “extreme restrictions… in addition to threats, arbitrary detention, prosecution, trumped-up fees, killings and enforced disappearances”.
Kagame’s legacy
With 65 p.c of the nation’s inhabitants aged underneath 30, Kagame – who’s working for a fourth time period – is the one chief most Rwandans have ever identified.
The 66-year-old is credited with rebuilding a traumatised nation after the genocide unleashed by Hutu fighters that killed practically 800,000 individuals, primarily Tutsi but in addition Hutu centrists, in 1994.
However his regime is extensively 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 combating 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 assist at house, having overseen financial progress 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 kids to go to high school, elevated the numbers of lecturers, he additionally gave us medical health insurance,” Venantia Nyirangendo, 51, mentioned throughout a rally for Kagame’s Rwandan Patriotic Entrance (RPF) get together 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 Social gathering has two MPs.
One other 24 spots are reserved for girls, two for teenagers and one for individuals with disabilities. All candidates for these seats should be unbiased, and oblique elections will probably be held on Tuesday.
