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KIGALI | In the recent Rwandan presidential election, opposition candidate Frank Habineza has conceded defeat to incumbent President Paul Kagame, who has won his fourth term. According to provisional results as of 10 PM EAT, Kagame leads with 99.15% of the vote.
Kagame, the RPF-Inkotanyi candidate, has garnered 7,099,815 votes, while Habineza of the Democratic Green Party received 38,301 votes, accounting for 0.53% of the total. Habineza, who earlier in the day spoke of securing 55% of the vote, stated, “We accept the results and congratulate the winner, HE Paul Kagame,” after voting at the Kimironko II polling station.
Independent candidate Philippe Mpayimana trailed with 22,753 votes, or 0.32%. According to the Nile Post’s Canary Mugume in Kigali, nine million voters participated in the election, with provisional results covering seven million votes tallied between 3 PM and 10 PM. Mugume noted, “Voter turnout in the Rwandan elections stands at 98%. This means almost every registered voter in Rwanda went to vote, and almost everyone who cast a ballot voted for RPF-Inkotanyi candidate Paul Kagame.”
Kagame, who has won every election since 2003 with over 95% of the vote, extends his rule to nearly three decades. He faced the same two opponents from the 2017 election, where he won with 98%, with Mpayimana and Habineza sharing 1.3%.
The electoral commission barred Diane Rwigara from running for the second time, citing apparent failure to meet requirements. Victoire Ingabire was also barred by the high court in Kigali, which ruled that her rehabilitation was incomplete. Ingabire, who was arrested in 2010 after returning from exile to run for president, was convicted of minimizing the Genocide against the Tutsi and sentenced to 15 years. She was pardoned in 2018 but remains virtually under house arrest. Bernard Ntaganda was also barred from running due to a past conviction after attempting to run in 2010.
Kagame came to power in July 1994, leading the Rwandan Patriotic Army to halt the ethnic cleansing of the Tutsi by the Hutu-dominated government of Juvenal Habyarimana. He is credited with transforming Rwanda’s economy but faces criticism from Western governments for limiting democracy and freedom of expression. His government argues that a Western model of democracy is not suitable for Rwanda.
Election observers in Kigali have described the Rwandan polls as a model of democracy for the continent, emphasizing the need for Africa to develop its own democratic systems.
