Paul Kagame seeks fourth term as president

Rwanda’s feared and admired President Paul Kagame is seeking to extend his 24-year rule, and analysts say he will win in a landslide.

Since becoming president in 2000, he has dominated every election, winning over 90% of the vote. In 2017, he won an election criticized by human rights groups by a staggering 99%.

Kagame, 66, is accused of not allowing any real opposition and ruthlessly targeting his critics, even abroad.

He faces the only two contenders authorized to run – the other candidates have been barred from running by the state-run electoral commission.

Mr Kagame remained silent during the vote and did not speak to reporters.

President Kagame has been at the helm of Rwandan politics since his rebels came to power following the 1994 genocide that killed some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

Since then, he has been praised for overseeing the country’s dramatic economic recovery and unifying the country.

Dr Felix Ndashinda, a Great Lakes academic, told the BBC: “Rwanda was essentially written off 30 years ago but, in part, thanks to the leadership of Kagame and his ruling party, Rwanda Chubb succeeded in establishing a certain stability.

Mr Kagame has strongly defended Rwanda’s human rights record and said the country respects political freedoms.

But one analyst told the BBC the election was just a “formality”.

Some 9 million people are registered to vote, including at least 2 million first-time voters, according to the electoral body.

The interim winner should be known Tuesday morning.

Voters will elect the president and 53 members of the lower house of parliament on Monday, with another 27 elected the next day.

“I’m so excited about voting for the first time, I can’t wait,” Sylvia Mutoni told the BBC.

For most young people in Rwanda, Mr Kagame is the only leader they know.

Although he served as Vice President and Defense Secretary from 1994 to 2000, he remains the true leader of the country and has been President since 2000.

Two opposition candidates – Frank Habineza of the Democratic Green Party and Philippe Mpaimana of the Independent Party – both ran in the 2017 election and received just over 1% of the vote.

But they were undeterred.

Mr Habinessa, who cast his vote in the capital Kigali on Monday morning, told reporters the election was “a good demonstration of democracy in our country”.

He said he hoped his party would get 20 MPs, 10 times the number of seats it won in the 2017 election.

“I believe democracy is a process,” he told the BBC Focus on Africa podcast before the election.

“People are still afraid to express their opinions. I am fighting for free speech and free media,” he said.

Some Rwandans were listening to him. One voter told the BBC he would not vote for the current president.

Celestin Mutuyeyezu, 28, had supported Mr Kagame but the election was influenced by Mr Habineza.

“He said a lot of great things about dealing with unemployment, and he supported me,” he said.

But defeating President Kagame may be difficult.

Diane Rwigara, an outspoken critic of the president, was banned from running in the election. In 2017, she was also disqualified.

“Rwanda is portrayed as a country with a growing economy. But in reality, the situation is different. People really lack the basics of life, food, water and shelter,” she told the BBC.

The Electoral Commission said she failed to provide the correct documentation.

Although the country continues to struggle with high youth unemployment, it has one of the fastest-growing economies in Africa.

Mr Kagame is credited with Rwanda’s remarkable economic transformation and stability over the past three decades.

Rwanda is world-famous for its clean capital and has the highest proportion of women in parliament in the world at 61%.

American authors Patricia Crisafulli and Andrea Redmond described Mr Kagame as the company’s chief executive in their book “Rwanda Inc.” Not a political leader because he “pursues excellence” in every field in the country.

He was also a shrewd politician.

While often critical of the West, he has tried to cultivate useful allies – such as working with Britain on a now-abandoned plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.

Rwanda also enhances its attractiveness through sports, culture and entertainment, demonstrating its soft power on the international stage.

This small East African country is African basketball league home stadium, a partnership with the NBA. It hosts the 2022 Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit and invites guests such as Kendrick Lamar has performed concerts there.

But there is also a very tough side to Mr Kagame’s diplomacy.

Days before the election, a United Nations report stated that Some 4,000 Rwandan troops are stationed in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congothey are accused of supporting the M23 rebel group.

Rwanda did not deny the accusation and told the BBC that the DRC government lacked the political will to resolve the crisis in its mineral-rich eastern region, which has experienced decades of turmoil.

During the campaign, Mr Kagame pledged to protect Rwanda from “external aggression” amid strained relations with neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi.