Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, both feared and admired, is seeking to extend his 24-year rule in an election analysts predict he will win by a landslide.
Since becoming president in 2000, Kagame has dominated every election, consistently securing over 90% of the vote. In 2017, he won with an astounding 99%.
The 66-year-old Kagame faces only two contenders who were authorized to run, as other candidates were barred by the state-run electoral commission.
President Kagame has been at the forefront of Rwandan politics since his rebel forces took power at the end of the 1994 genocide, which killed approximately 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
He has been praised for overseeing the country’s dramatic revival and for unifying the nation.
“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.
However, his critics accuse Kagame of suppressing opposition, even orchestrating cross-border assassinations of dissidents.
Kagame has consistently defended Rwanda’s human rights record, asserting that his country respects political freedoms.
One analyst told the BBC the election is merely a “formality.”
According to the electoral body, about nine million people are registered to vote, with at least two million being first-time voters.
A provisional winner should be known by Tuesday morning.
On Monday, voters will elect the president and 53 members of the lower House of Parliament, 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.
The two opposition candidates – Frank Habineza, of the Democratic Green Party and independent Philippe Mpayimana – both ran in the 2017 election, where they took just over 1% of the vote between them.
But they are undeterred.
“I believe democracy is a process,” Mr Habineza told the BBC Focus on Africa podcast.
“People still have a fear of expressing their opinions. I’m fighting for freedom of speech, freedom of the media,” he said.
And some Rwandans are listening to him. One voter told the BBC he would not be voting for the incumbent president.
Celestin Mutuyeyezu, 28, used to support Mr Kagame, but this election has been swayed by Mr Habineza.
“He said great things on fighting unemployment, and he’s got me,” he said.
But defeating President Kagame may prove difficult.
Diane Rwigara, an outspoken critic of the president, was barred from running in the election. She was also disqualified in 2017.
“Rwanda is portrayed as a country where the economy has been growing. But on the ground, it’s different. People do lack the basics of life, food, water, shelter,” she told the BBC.
The electoral commission said she had failed to provide correct documentation.
Though the country continues to struggle with high rates of youth unemployment, it is one of the fastest-growing economies in Africa.
Mr. Kagame is credited for Rwanda’s remarkable economic transformation and stability over the last three decades.
Rwanda is known globally for its clean capital city and having the world’s highest proportion of female MPs, 61%.
In the book “Rwanda, Inc.,” American authors Patricia Crisafulli and Andrea Redmond describe Mr. Kagame more as a company CEO than a political leader due to “his drive for excellence” in every sector in the country.
He is also a shrewd politician.
Despite often criticizing the West, he tries to cultivate useful allies – for example by working with the UK on its now-abandoned scheme to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.
Rwanda has also been flexing its soft power on the international stage, building its appeal through sports, culture, and entertainment.
The small East African country is home to the African Basketball League, a partnership with the NBA. It hosted the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2022, and international stars like Kendrick Lamar have played concerts there.
But Mr. Kagame’s diplomacy also has a very tough side.
The election comes days after a UN report said there were some 4,000 Rwandan troops in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, where they are accused of backing the M23 rebel group.
Rwanda did not deny the allegation and told the BBC the DR Congo government lacked the political will to resolve the crisis in its mineral-rich east, which has witnessed decades of unrest.
On the campaign trail, Mr. Kagame promised to protect Rwanda from “external aggression” amid tensions with neighboring DR Congo and Burundi.
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