Rwanda President Paul Kagame this afternoon joined nine million of his compatriots to cast his vote in Kigali.
Rwanda returned to the polls today, with incumbent Kagame expected to be re-elected to extend his tenure.
The presidential and parliamentary elections are taking place at a time the central African country is enjoying significant economic strides and political stability under Kagame’s 24-year reign in a region surrounded by bloody chaos.
In the presidential poll, Kagame of the Rwandan Patriotic Front—who is running for a fourth term after winning three previous elections—faces Frank Habineza of Democratic Green Party of Rwanda and independent candidate Philippe Mpayimana.
So far, voting across the country has been largely peaceful.
Voting has been taking place over three days in 2591 polling stations although the main event is today.
It started yesterday, July 14, when Rwandans in diaspora voted at the country’s embassies and diplomatic missions worldwide.
Today, July 15, voters in Rwanda are picking their president and 53 of the 80 seats in the National Assembly.
Tomorrow, July 16, the remaining 27 members of the lower house, who include representatives of the youth and disabled, will be elected indirectly by councils.
The country’s National Electoral Commission (NEC) is expected to announce provisional results on July 20 while final tallies are expected to be published on July 27.
NEC has accredited more than 1 000 local and foreign observers. Of these, 776 are from Rwanda and 334 from outside the country, according to the commission’s chairperson Oda Gasinzigwa.
The foreign observers include the African Union, European Union, the East African Community; Commonwealth, International Organisation of the Francophone, the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region and the Economic Community of Central African States.
Rwanda’s last presidential election was held in August 2017, which Kagame won with 98.79 percent of the vote against the same duo of Habineza and Mpayimana.
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