Kagame seeks fourth term as Rwandan president

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.