Rwandan President Paul Kagame was gearing up on July 16 for a fourth term after winning a thundering 99.15% of votes according to partial results from an election where only two challengers were allowed to run against him.
The outcome of the July 15 poll was never in doubt, with Mr. Kagame ruling the small African nation with an iron fist as de facto leader then president for three decades.
Partial results issued by the election commission seven hours after polls closed showed that Mr. Kagame had won 99.15% of the vote โ even more than the 98.79% he got in the last poll seven years ago.
Democratic Green Party candidate Frank Habineza could only muster 0.53% and independent Philippe Mpayimana 0.32%, according to the results issued with 79% of ballots counted.
In an address from the headquarters of his ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), the 66-year-old thanked Rwandans for giving him another five years in office.
“The results that have been presented indicate a very high score, these are not just figures, even if it was 100 percent, these are not just numbers,” he said.
“These figures show the trust, and that is what is most important,” he added.
“I am hopeful that together we can solve all problems.”
โSafe and transparentโ
With 65% of the population aged under 30, Mr. Kagame is the only leader most Rwandans have ever known.
The bespectacled 66-year-old is credited with rebuilding a traumatised nation after the 1994 genocide โ but he is also accused of ruling in a climate of fear at home, and fomenting instability in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.
Over nine million Rwandans โ including two million first-time voters โ were registered to cast their ballot, with the presidential race being held simultaneously as legislative elections for the first time.
In Kigali’s Nyabugogo market, shoppers were upbeat and unsurprised by the result.
“The reason he gets such high votes, which should be 100 percent, is because Rwandans love him,” pensioner Frederick Bayingana told AFP, listing Kagame’s accomplishments in providing “development”, “drinking water” and “security”.
“Today is a day for celebrations because this is the result I wanted,” motorcycle taxi driver Thomas Dushimirimana, 38, told AFP.
Full provisional results are due by July 20 and definitive results by July 27.
“In general, the electoral process happened in a safe and transparent atmosphere for Rwandans living abroad and at home,” the National Electoral Commission said.
Mr. Kagame won with more than 93% of the vote in 2003, 2010 and in 2017, when he again easily defeated the same two challengers.
He has overseen controversial constitutional amendments that shortened presidential terms from seven to five years but reset the clock for the Rwandan leader, allowing him to potentially rule until 2034.
โSevere restrictionsโ
Rwandan courts had rejected appeals from prominent opposition figures Bernard Ntaganda and Victoire Ingabire to remove previous convictions that effectively disqualified them from the July 15 vote.
The election commission also barred high-profile Kagame critic Diane Rwigara, citing issues with her paperwork โ the second time she was excluded from running.
Ahead of the vote, Amnesty International said Rwanda’s political opposition faced “severe restrictions… as well as threats, arbitrary detention, prosecution, trumped-up charges, killings and enforced disappearances”.
The imbalance between the candidates was evident during the three-week campaign, as the RPF’s well-oiled PR machine swung into high gear.
His rivals struggled to make their voices heard, with barely 100 people showing up to some events.
Mr. Kagame’s RPF militia is lauded for its role in ending the 1994 genocide โ ousting the Hutu extremists who had unleashed 100 days of bloodletting targeting the Tutsi minority.
The perpetrators killed around 800,000 people, mainly Tutsis but also Hutu moderates.
Rwanda’s GDP has grown by an average of 7.2% per year between 2012 and 2022, although the World Bank says almost half the population lives on less than $2.15 a day.
Abroad, Kigali is accused of meddling in the troubled eastern DRC, where a U.N. report says its troops are fighting alongside M23 rebels.
In the parliamentary election, 589 candidates were chasing 80 seats, including 53 elected by universal suffrage.
In the outgoing assembly, the RPF held 40 seats and its allies 11, while Habineza’s party had two.
Another 27 spots are reserved for women, the youth and people with disabilities.
