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.
Also read: EAC dispatches election observation teams to Rwanda
Who is facing Kagame?
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”.
A voter casts her ballot at a polling station in Kigali, on July 15, during Rwanda’s presidential and parliamentary elections
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Publish date : 2024-07-15 08:16:31
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