Rwanda Election: Paul Kagame wins with 99% of votes in partial results

Rwandan President Paul Kagame is set to extend his 24-year rule for another five years with a landslide victory, with the majority of votes counted in Monday’s election.

He has secured 99.15% of the votes so far, with about 79% of the votes counted and the partial results declared by the Election Commission.

The 66-year-old again faced no meaningful opposition, with key figures banned. Both his opponents shared less than 1% of the vote.

Mr Kagame thanked Rwandans for their faith in his address at the headquarters of his Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) party.

“These are not just statistics, even if it is 100%, these are not just numbers. [They] Show confidence, that’s the most important thing,” Mr Kagame said.

His opponents – environmentalist Frank Habineza and former journalist and government adviser Philip Mphaimana – have 0.53% and 0.32% respectively.

Full provisional results will be released on 20th July and final results on 27th July.

The results are not surprising.

They mirror the outcome of the 2017 election, in which the same candidates took part – Mr Kagame won with 98.8% of the vote.

The Election Commission reported that 98% of the more than 9.5 million voters participated in the elections.

They voted for a president and 53 legislators.

Elections for 27 special seats for women, youth and persons with disabilities will be held on Tuesday.

Mr Kagame has been Rwanda’s de facto leader since the end of the 1994 genocide and president since 2000.

Rights groups accuse him of curtailing freedoms since taking office, while his supporters say he has led economic growth and helped end racial divisions.