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, faces off against 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 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 the BBC.
But his critics have accused Mr Kagame of not allowing any opposition – to the extent of orchestrating cross-border assassinations of dissidents.
Mr Kagame has always fiercely defended Rwanda’s record on human rights, saying his country respects political freedoms.
But one analyst told the BBC 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 BBC.
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.
Source:BBC
