Kagame, Rwanda’s de facto leader since 1994, faces only two challengers after courts banned his most prominent critics.
Rwandans have begun voting in the country’s presidential and legislative elections, which are poised to extend longtime leader Paul Kagame’s tenure for another five years.
Polling stations opened at about 7am local time (05:00GMT) on Monday across the East African country, where more than nine million people are registered to participate, reported the AFP news agency.
Kagame, who has been Rwanda’s de facto leader for three decades, is almost certain to retain the presidency, facing only two challengers after Rwandan courts banned his most prominent critics.
The outlook mirrors that of the last election in 2017, when Kagame dominated his rivals with close to 99 percent of the vote.
Who is facing Kagame?
Frank Habineza, leader of Rwanda’s Democratic Green Party, and independent Philippe Mpayimana were the only two candidates approved to run against Kagame out of eight applicants.
Rwandan courts rejected appeals from prominent opposition figures Bernard Ntaganda and Victoire Ingabire to remove previous convictions that effectively disqualified them from the race.
The National Electoral Commission also barred high-profile Kagame critic Diane Rwigara, citing issues with her paperwork – the second time she was barred from running.
Ahead of the election, rights group Amnesty International said Rwanda’s opposition faces “severe restrictions… as well as threats, arbitrary detention, prosecution, trumped-up charges, killings and enforced disappearances”.
Kagame’s legacy
With 65 percent of the country’s population aged under 30, Kagame – who is running for a fourth term – is the only leader most Rwandans have ever known.
The 66-year-old is credited with rebuilding a traumatised nation after the genocide unleashed by Hutu fighters that killed nearly 800,000 people, mainly Tutsi but also Hutu centrists, in 1994.
But his regime is widely criticised by rights groups as autocratic, stifling the media and political opposition with arbitrary detentions, killings and enforced disappearances.
Abroad, it faces accusations of stoking instability in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, where a UN report says Rwandan troops are fighting alongside M23 rebels in the troubled east. Kigali has denied the allegations.
Kagame has also overseen controversial constitutional amendments that shortened presidential terms from seven to five years and reset the clock for the Rwandan leader, allowing him to potentially rule until 2034.
Yet despite his many critics, Kagame enjoys great support at home, having overseen economic growth rates of an average of 7.2 percent between 2012 and 2022 and the development of infrastructure including hospitals and roads.
“He has made great achievements, he has helped our children to go to school, increased the numbers of teachers, he also gave us health insurance,” Venantia Nyirangendo, 51, said during a rally for Kagame’s Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) party on Saturday.
Phil Clark, Professor of International Politics at the University of London, told Al Jazeera that Rwandan population has mixed feelings about Kagame and his ruling party.
“It’s a country with the most powerful welfare safety net in the region, so people feel provided for in terms of healthcare and education. But, people also worry about the control that the government has and the clampdown on the freedom of expression,” he said.
Parallel parliamentary elections
For the first time, Rwanda’s parliamentary election is being held alongside the presidential vote, with more than 500 candidates vying for 80 seats in the Chamber of Deputies.
Of those, 53 are elected by universal suffrage. The RPF currently holds 40 seats and its allies 11, while Habineza’s Green Party has two MPs.
Another 24 spots are reserved for women, two for youths and one for people with disabilities. All candidates for these seats must be independent, and indirect elections will be held on Tuesday.