KIGALI, Rwanda
Rwanda's President Paul Kagame, feared and admired in equal measure, is seeking to extend his 24-year rule in an election analysts say he will win by a landslide.
He has dominated every
election since becoming president in 2000, with over 90% of the vote. In 2017
he won with a staggering 99%.
Mr Kagame, 66, is accused of
not allowing any real opposition and ruthlessly targeting his critics, even
outside the country.
He faces the only two
contenders who were authorised to run - other candidates were barred by the
state-run electoral commission.
President Kagame has been at
the helm of Rwandan politics since his rebel forces took power at the end of
the 1994 genocide which killed some 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
Since then, he has been
praised for overseeing the country's dramatic economic revival and unifying the
country.
"Rwanda was 30 years ago
essentially written off - but thanks to some extent to the leadership under
Kagame and his ruling party Rwanda managed to build some stability," Dr
Felix Ndahinda, a scholar on the Great Lakes region, told our reporter.
Mr Kagame has always fiercely
defended Rwanda's record on human rights, saying his country respects political
freedoms.
But one analyst said the
election was a mere "formality".
About nine million people are
registered to vote, according to the electoral body, and at least two million
are first-time voters.
A provisional winner should be
known by Tuesday morning.
Voters will elect the
president and 53 members of the lower House of Parliament on Monday, while 27
other MPs will be elected the following day.
“I am very excited about
voting for my first time, I can’t wait,” Sylvia Mutoni told the reporter.
For most young people in
Rwanda, Mr Kagame is the only leader they have ever known.
Even while vice-president and
defence minister from 1994 to 2000 he was the country's real leader, and has
been president since 2000.
The two opposition candidates
- Frank Habineza, of the Democratic Green Party and independent Philippe
Mpayimana - both ran in the 2017 election, where they took just over 1% of the
vote between them.
But they are undeterred.
Paul Kagame has won previous
elections with over 90% of the vote
Mr Habineza cast his vote in
capital Kigali on Monday morning and told reporters this election was a
"good show of democracy in our country".
He said he hoped his party can
get 20 MPs - 10 times the number of seats his party secured in the 2017
election.
"People still have a fear
of expressing their opinions. I'm fighting for freedom of speech, freedom of
the media," he said.
And some Rwandans are
listening to him. One voter said he would not be voting for the incumbent
president.
Celestin Mutuyeyezu, 28, used
to support Mr Kagame, but this election has been swayed by Mr Habineza.
“He said great things on
fighting unemployment, and he’s got me," he said.
But defeating President Kagame
may prove difficult.
Diane Rwigara, an outspoken
critic of the president, was barred from running in the election. She was also
disqualified in 2017.
"Rwanda is portrayed as a
country where the economy has been growing. But on the ground, it's different.
People do lack the basics of life, food, water, shelter," she said.
The electoral commission said
she had failed to provide correct documentation.
Frank Habineza told reporters
he hopes his party secures 20 seats in parliament
Though the country continues
to struggle with high rates of youth unemployment, it is one of the
fastest-growing economies in Africa.
Mr Kagame is credited for
Rwanda’s remarkable economic transformation and stability over the last three
decades.
Rwanda is known globally for
its clean capital city and having the world's highest proportion of female MPs,
61%.
In the book Rwanda, Inc.
American authors Patricia Crisafulli and Andrea Redmond describe Mr Kagame more
as a company CEO than a political leader because of “his drive for excellence”
in every sector in the country.
He is also a shrewd
politician.
Despite often criticising the
West, he tries to cultivate useful allies - for example by working with the UK
on its now-abandoned scheme to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.
Rwanda has also been flexing
its soft power on the international stage, by building its appeal through
sports, culture, and entertainment.
The small East African country
is home to the African Basketball League, which is a
partnership with the NBA. It hosted the Commonwealth Heads of Government
Meeting in 2022 and international stars like Kendrick
Lamar have played concerts there.
But Mr Kagame's diplomacy also
has a very tough side.
The election comes days after
a UN report said there were some
4,000 Rwandan troops in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, where
they are accused of backing the M23 rebel group.
Rwanda did not deny the
allegation and told the reporter the DR Congo government lacked the political
will to resolve the crisis in its mineral-rich east, which has witnessed
decades of unrest.
On the campaign trail Mr
Kagame promised to protect Rwanda from “external aggression” amid tensions with
neighbouring DR Congo and Burundi.
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