Provisional results from Rwanda’s presidential election on Monday show that President Paul Kagame got 99% of the votes. Most people expected this result since Kagame has been in power for 30 years and wants to keep it that way.
1% for the opposition
Frank Habineza of the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda and Philippe Mpayimana, an independent candidate, were Kagame’s opponents. Together, they got less than 1% of the vote, which is 79% of all ballots cast.
The outcome was the same as in 2017 when Kagame got almost all the votes.
The final results should be released by July 27, but they might be made public earlier.
No opposition.
The 66-year-old Kagame had almost no opposition. He has been in charge since the end of the country’s genocide in 1994. Two of his harshest critics were not allowed to run for high office.
There were long lines at some voting places in Kigali, the capital. The election officials said that out of the 14 million people who live in Rwanda, 9.5 million were registered to vote.
“I am going to vote for the first time today.” “A person riding a motorcycle said, “I am voting for President Kagame because I have never seen a leader like him before.”
Since 1994, when he became leader of the rebels who overthrew the government and stopped the killing, Kagame has been in charge of the East African country. From 1994 to 2000, when he became president, he was vice president and the real boss.
Many people have called him a violent dictator, while others have praised him for leading the country to significant progress in the 30 years since the killing.
Some African leaders, like Kagame, have stayed in power longer by trying to change the rules on term limits. To end the two-term limit, Rwandans decided in a referendum in 2015 to remove it.
Kagame could now stay in charge until 2034.
He told reporters on Saturday that his job comes from the people.
“The ruling party and Rwandans have been asking me to stand for another mandate,” he stated. “On a personal level, I feel good about going home to rest.”
There were more worries about safety in Africa’s Great Lakes area during Rwanda’s election. M23 rebels are fighting Congolese troops in a remote part of eastern Congo, which is next door.
In a report that was sent out last week, UN experts said that between 3,000 and 4,000 Rwandan troops are fighting with M23. The U.S. government has said that Rwanda is behind the group.
Rwanda says that the Congolese military hired fighters who were involved in the killing.
As long as Rwanda places hard limits on human rights, like the right to join together, rights groups will keep sounding the alarm.
A recent statement from Amnesty International voiced worry about “threats, arbitrary detention, prosecution on trumped-up charges, killings and enforced disappearances” aimed at the political opposition. It said that silence of dissenting voices, even in the media and civil groups, “has a chilling effect and limits the space for debate for the people of Rwanda.”
