On Monday, voters in Rwanda go to the polls to choose their next president, with the incumbent, Paul Kagame, who has been in power for over two decades, expected to win a landslide and extend his rule.
More than nine million eligible voters will vote in presidential and parliamentary elections, and provisional results are expected in a week.
Paul Kagame, who took power after ending the horrific 1994 genocide, is challenged by two familiar candidates, Frank Habineza and Philippe Mpayimana, who also contested the previous polls in 2017.
However, several other candidates, including some of Kagame’s outspoken critics, were disqualified from running due to reasons such as previous criminal convictions.
In the 2017 election, Kagame secured almost 99% of the vote after his successful push to remove term limits through a constitutional change allowed him to stand for re-election.
While he is praised for propelling Rwanda’s economy forward, he has also drawn criticism from human rights activists and Western nations for restricting media freedom, suppressing opposition, and supporting rebel factions in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.
Rwanda’s government has refuted all allegations against it, and during the campaign, Kagame promised continuity and stability.
