Paul Kagame casts his ballot at a polling station in Kigali, on July 15, during Rwanda’s presidential and parliamentary elections
KIGALI: Rwandans have begun voting in the country’s presidential and
legislative elections, which are poised to extend longtime leader Paul Kagame’s
tenure for another five years.
Polling stations opened at about 7am local time (05:00GMT) on Monday
across the East African country, where more than nine million people are
registered to participate, reported Agence France-Presse.
Kagame, who has been Rwanda’s de facto leader for three decades, is
almost certain to retain the presidency, facing only two challengers after
Rwandan courts banned his most prominent critics.
The outlook mirrors that of the last election in 2017, when Kagame
dominated his rivals with close to 99 percent of the vote.
Frank Habineza, leader of Rwanda’s Democratic Green Party, and
independent Philippe Mpayimana were the only two candidates approved to run
against Kagame out of eight applicants.
Rwandan courts rejected appeals from prominent opposition figures Bernard
Ntaganda and Victoire Ingabire to remove previous convictions that effectively
disqualified them from the race.
The National Electoral Commission also barred high-profile Kagame critic
Diane Rwigara, citing issues with her paperwork – the second time she was
barred from running.
Ahead of the election, rights group Amnesty International said Rwanda’s opposition faces “severe restrictions… as well as threats, arbitrary detention, prosecution, trumped-up charges, killings and enforced disappearances”.
