Kigali, Rwanda | By Michael Wandati | In a decisive election, incumbent President Paul Kagame of Rwanda has won with an overwhelming 99% of the vote, following the Opposition’s concession of defeat.
This landslide victory solidifies Mr. Kagame’s grip on power, extending his tenure as the country’s leader.
Rwandan opposition candidate Frank Habineza has conceded to incumbent President Paul Kagame in the presidential election.
Provisional results as of 10 PM EAT show Kagame leading with 99.15% of the vote, securing his fourth term in office.
The RPF-Inkotanyi candidate, Mr. Kagame, garnered 7,099,815 votes, while Habineza of the Democratic Green Party received 38,301 votes, amounting to 0.53%.
“We accept the results and congratulate the winner HE Paul Kagame,” Mr. Habineza, who voted from Kimironko II polling station and spoke of securing 55 percent of the vote just hours earlier, said.
Independent candidate Philippe Mpayimana trailed with 22,753 votes, accounting for 0.32%.
According to the Kampala Dispatch correspondent, reporting from Kigali, nine million voters participated in the election. The provisional results, released between 3 PM and 10 PM, captured the tallying of seven million votes.
“Voter turnout in the Rwandan elections stands at 98 percent. This is to say; almost every registered voter in Rwanda went to vote,” our reporter said.
“And almost every one who cast a ballot, voted for RPF-Inkotanyi candidate Paul Kagame.”
President Paul Kagame, who has consistently won elections since 2003 with more than 95% of the vote, will now extend his rule to three decades.
Facing the same opponents from the 2017 election, Mr. Kagame won with 98% in 2017, while Philippe Mpayimana and Frank Habineza shared 1.3% of the vote.
Diane Rwigara was controversially barred from running for a second time due to apparent failure to meet the electoral commission’s requirements.
Victoire Ingabire was also barred by the high court in Kigali, citing that her rehabilitation was not complete after being convicted in 2010 for minimizing the Genocide against the Tutsi and receiving a 15-year sentence.
Although she was pardoned in 2018, she has remained virtually under house arrest. Bernard Ntaganda was also barred from running, due to a past conviction when he was jailed in 2010 after attempting to run for the presidency.
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Mr. Kagame came to power in July 1994 after leading his Rwandan Patriotic Army to stop the ethnic cleansing of the Tutsi by the Hutu-dominated government of Juvenal Habyarimana.
He is credited with revitalizing Rwanda’s economy from the devastation of the genocide but is also criticized by Western governments for suppressing democracy and freedom of expression.
His government, however, argues that it cannot follow a Western template for democracy.
Reporting from Kigali, our correspondent noted that election observers suggested Rwandan polls could serve as a model of democracy for the continent, emphasizing that African countries should develop their own democratic frameworks rather than importing foreign models.
