Voters in Rwanda headed to the polls on Monday to elect their next president, with 66-year-old incumbent Paul Kagame who has ruled the central African country for nearly a quarter of a century expected to cruise to victory.
Polling centres were due to open at 7 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) for the more than 9 million eligible voters to cast their ballots for the president and lawmakers. Provisional results are expected by July 20.
On the streets, most voters said they would vote for Kagame who they praise for shepherding the country of 14 million from the ravages of the 1994 genocide by prioritising development and putting in place effective social services.
“Kagame has achieved a lot for us … we have security, all children are able to go to school, and they get meals at school,” said Tuyiringirimana Olivier, a construction worker who lives in Rwanda’s southern province.
“That is why we must support him. I have already made my choice. I am confident that Rwanda is heading in a good direction.”
Kagame, who led a rebel force that captured power after ending the genocide in 1994, has been president since 2000. He is running against two other candidates, Frank Habineza and Philippe Mpayimana, who also challenged him at the last polls in 2017.
Several other candidates, including some of Kagame’s most vocal critics, were barred from running for various reasons that included prior criminal convictions.
Kagame won nearly 99% of the vote in the 2017 poll, which followed a constitutional change removing term limits that would have prevented him from standing again.
He has won acclaim for transforming Rwanda into a thriving economy but has also faced criticism from rights activists and Western nations for muzzling the media, stifling opposition and backing rebel groups in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.
Rwanda’s government has denied all the accusations against it, and while campaigning, Kagame promised continued development and stability.
Its human rights record was thrown into the spotlight when Rwanda struck a migration deal in 2022 with the UK to receive thousands of asylum seekers. Britain’s new government has said it would scrap the deal.
The Reuters
