Rwanda’s Kagame set to extend his 24-year-long presidency in Monday election

As Rwandans go to the polls on Monday July 15 to elect a President, the incumbent Paul Kagame is expected to win a fourth term in office, as he is running virtually unopposed after three decades in power in the eastern African nation.

The 66-year-old Kagame led the rebel movement that ended 1994 genocide in Rwanda and has served as president since 2000. He faces only two challengers, Frank Habineza of the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda and independent candidate Philippe Mpayimana. Six other potential candidates were not cleared to run by the state-run electoral commission.

However, both opposition candidates have only modest expectations and they have struggled to pull crowds to their rallies. Kagame faced the same opponents in the last election in 2017, when he won nearly 99% of the vote.

Observers expect a similar result in a country where serious opposition to Kagame has long been absent. He has also been able to cling to power after a constitutional change in 2015 removing term limits that would have barred him from standing again — in 2017 and now, in 2024.

Kagame has won praise during his tenure for reducing poverty and increasing medical insurance coverage for Rwandans, transforming the capital Kigali into a clean city with good roads and stylish buildings, as well as for helping turn the country into a regional financial hub. But, on the flip side, his government has been accused by Western nations and rights groups of muzzling the media, assassinating opponents, and backing rebel groups in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

A total of 9.5 million Rwandans are registered to vote, according to electoral authorities.