Rwandan President Paul Kagame won 99.15 percent of the votes in Monday’s presidential election, securing a fourth term in office.
The country’s electoral commission announced that about 79 percent of ballots have been counted, with 9.5 million Rwandans registered to vote out of a population of 14 million.
Kagame’s opponents, Frank Habineza of the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda and independent candidate Philippe Mpayimana, each received less than one percent of the provisional results.
This outcome mirrors the 2017 election, where Kagame also garnered nearly 99 percent of the votes.
Final results are anticipated by July 27, though they could be announced sooner.
In his address at the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) party headquarters in Kigali, Kagame expressed gratitude to Rwandans for their trust.
Kagame first rose to power as the leader of the rebels who ended the 1994 genocide, subsequently becoming vice-president and de facto leader until 2000, when he assumed the presidency.
The 64-year-old leader is now eligible to continue in office until 2034, following a 2015 constitutional amendment that abolished the two-term limit.
While Kagame has been praised internationally for fostering peace and economic growth in Rwanda, he has faced criticism from rights groups and Western countries.
However, Kagame has maintained that his mandate comes from the Rwandan people, stating that he is indifferent to foreign opinions on his extended rule.
The election marks Rwanda’s fourth since the 1994 genocide, with citizens voting for both the presidential and parliamentary seats. The counting of parliamentary votes is still underway, with over 500 candidates competing for 80 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of parliament.
