Rwandan President Paul Kagame has overwhelmingly won the presidential election with 99% of the vote, according to preliminary results announced late Monday evening.
The electoral body reported that 79% of the ballots had been counted, with Kagame maintaining a 99% lead.
Kagame, who has been in power since 1994, achieved a similar victory in the 2017 election.
Voters began lining up as early as 7 a.m. on Monday, eager to cast their ballots. Many expressed their excitement to fulfill their civic duty, with some stating they wanted a leader who could meet the population’s needs, while others praised the progress they had seen and wished for it to continue.
Kagame voted at around 1:30 p.m. at a polling station in Kigali, emphasizing that his focus on building the country’s prosperity would remain unchanged.
Kagame, first elected president in 2000, ran against two challengers: Frank Habineza from the Democratic Green Party and independent Philippe Mpayimana.
Habineza came in second with 0.53% of the vote, while Mpayimana received 0.32%.
This marked Mpayimana’s second presidential bid. The journalist-turned-politician’s manifesto focused on developing agriculture, transportation, fishing, and other industries, which gained significant media attention.
Habineza, who also ran in the previous election, told VOA he joined the race again because he felt Kagame had been in power too long and that Rwanda needed a fresh perspective.
Several other candidates, including some of Kagame’s most vocal critics, were barred from running.
Around 9 million Rwandans out of a total population of 14 million were registered to vote, which was 2 million more than in the last election, according to the National Electoral Commission.
NEC Chairwoman Oda Gasinzigwa announced that Rwanda had over 300 international observers and approximately 700 local observers overseeing the election process.
Critics point to Kagame’s heavy-handed governance and crackdown on dissent as factors contributing to his landslide victory. However, analysts also credit Kagame for guiding Rwanda towards stability and reconciliation since the devastating 1994 genocide, which claimed the lives of around 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus at the hands of Hutu extremists.
