Africa Election in Rwanda - Kagame seeks re-election

More than nine million voters - including two million first-time voters - have cast their ballots in Rwanda to elect a new president and parliament. The official election results are expected on July 27. Preliminary results could be known as early as the middle of the week. Long queues formed outside many polling stations on Monday.

No surprises are expected: The likely winner of the election is incumbent Paul Kagame, who is running for a fourth term.

Kagame had two opponents, the leader of the Green Party, Frank Habineza, and the independent candidate Philippe Mpayimana. Kagame had received more than 90 percent of the vote in each of the previous elections. Two female opposition politicians were not even allowed to stand as candidates. Human rights organizations criticize the persecution of opposition figures in the East African country with a population of over 14 million.

Kagame's party, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), is also likely to emerge as the strongest party in the upcoming parliamentary elections. There are 670 candidates vying for the 80 seats in parliament. A special feature of Rwanda is that, according to the regulations, female representatives make up a majority in parliament.

Kagame has been president of the country since 2000, but has actually been the strong man of Rwanda since 1994. Back then, as leader of the RPF, he marched into Rwanda from exile in Uganda and ended the genocide of the Hutu militias against the Tutsi. He was then Minister of Defense and Vice President.