By Ochieng’ Cynthia and Earnest Karani
Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame is set to extend his 24-year tenure by another five years. This comes after receiving 99% of the vote, according to preliminary election results revealed late Monday evening.
According to the country’s electoral board, Kagame had won 99% of the 79% of votes that have been tabulated thus far.
The president, who has been in office in various roles since 1994, won by a similar margin in 2017. And to showcase his zeal for leadership, around 1:30 p.m., Kagame voted at a Kigali voting centre stating that his priorities of bringing the country to prosperity would not alter.
Kagame, who was first elected president in 2000, faced out against two other candidates including Frank Habineza of the Democratic Green Party and Philippe Mpayimana, an independent.
Mr. Kagame thanked Rwandans for their trust in an address at his Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) party headquarters stating that,
“These are not just figures; even if they were 100%, they are not just numbers, the figures demonstrate trust, which is the most important thing.
On the other hand, the fellow contestants, Habineza came in second with 0.53% of the vote, followed by Mpayimana with 0.32%.
Mpayimana, a journalist-turned-politician, made his second attempt for the top post, and his manifesto plans to expand agriculture, transportation, fishing, and other businesses were covered in more than 50 publications.
Another contestant, Habineza, who campaigned against Kagame in the previous election, ran again this year claiming that the incumbent has been in government for too long and that it is time for a new vision for the country.
The National Electoral Commission did confirm that a large number turned out to cast their vote
“There were 2 million more votes than the previous election who turned up to cast their votes,” the commission noted.