According to partial results, Paul Kagame is leading with 99.15% of the votes

The referendum on Rwandan President Paul Kagame was held on Monday, July 15. According to the partial results declared by the Election Commission on Monday evening, out of 79% of the votes counted, he would have scored 99.15% of the votes cast. A fourth term is beyond doubt for the outgoing head of state, who has ruled the country with an iron fist since the end of the Tutsi genocide in 1994.

If this trend is confirmed, Paul Kagame could score higher than his 98.79% score in the 2017 presidential election (after 95.05% in 2003 and 93.08% in 2010). The full provisional results are expected on July 20, before the final results are declared on July 27.

Paul Kagame has already thanked Rwandans in a speech at his party’s headquarters, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF): “The results given indicate a very high score. It’s not just numbers, even if it’s 100%, it’s not just numbers. These numbers show confidence and that’s what matters most”He declared.

According to partial results read out on national television by electoral commission chairman Oda Kazinchikwa, his opponents, the only recognized opposition leader Frank Habineza and independent Philip Mabaimana, got 0.53% and 0.32% respectively. votes.

A confusing protest

Paul Kagame, 66, has been Rwanda’s strongest man since July 1994, when the RPF insurgency killed more than 800,000 minorities, according to the UN.

Paul Kagame, the country’s first vice president and defense minister but de facto president, has been president since 2000, elected by parliament after the resignation of Pastor Psimungu, and then three times by universal suffrage.

He gained a strong reputation for bloodlessly raising the country after the genocide, with solid growth (an average of 7.2% between 2012 and 2022) in infrastructure (roads, hospitals, etc.) and progress, especially in the regions. Education and Health. However, according to the World Bank, nearly one in two Rwandans live on less than $2.15 per day. Kagame’s regime has also been criticized for its intervention in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, where several thousand soldiers joined the M23 armed group in a recent U.N. They are reportedly fighting, and have stifled voices of dissent.

The most virulent opponents could not contest this presidential election. Historical figure of the opposition, Victoire Ingabire saw the courts reject her request to restore her civil rights, in which she was sentenced to fifteen years in prison in 2013. “Reducing Genocide”. He was released in 2018. Another anti-Kagame voice, Diane Ruwikara, had her candidacy invalidated by the Electoral Commission due to non-compliant documents. He was already disqualified from the last presidential election, accused of falsifying documents and arrested, before being released by a court in 2018.

In a statement, Amnesty International condemned “Strict Restrictions” Rights of opposition parties, as well “Threats, arbitrary detentions, trumped-up charges, killings and enforced disappearances”.

Assembly elections coincided with the presidential election

Although the result was not a mystery, Rwandans turned out in large numbers on Monday. “It was an easy choice, I voted for the one who brought development to this country: water, roads, electricity … I am not going to vote for anyone else because others have not brought anything to Rwanda »Boniface Niyonsaba, 29, openly explained his vote for Paul Kagame.

During the three weeks of the campaign, the FPR machine filled the country with portraits of its leader “PK”, its red-white-blue flags and its slogans. “PK24” (For this “Paul Kagame 2024”) or “Ijana Gwizina” (“one hundred percent”) His competitors are almost invisible.

The presidential election is linked to the legislative elections, where 589 candidates are vying for 80 seats in the House of Representatives. Electors appoint 53 directly. Currently, FPR has 40 seats out of 53 and its allies eleven seats. Mr Habineza’s Green Democrats have two MPs. Another 27 seats are reserved for women, youth and persons with disabilities. They will be awarded on Tuesday to candidates not running under any non-partisan banner: 24 women will be elected by municipal and regional councillors, two youths will be elected by the National Youth Council and one disabled person will be appointed by the Federation of Disabled Persons’ Associations.