Politics Presidential election in Rwanda: incumbent wins with more than 99 percent

In the presidential election in Rwanda, incumbent Paul Kagame has been re-elected with 99.18 percent of the vote. His two opponents - the leader of the Green Party, Frank Habineza, and the independent candidate Philippe Mpayimana - received 0.5 and 0.32 percent respectively, according to the final results announced by the electoral commission. This means that Kagame can begin his fourth term in office. The 66-year-old had already received more than 90 percent of the vote in previous elections.

Voting also took place in the East African country with a population of over 14 million on the composition of parliament. Kagame's party, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), emerged as the strongest force. According to the electoral commission, it won 37 seats in parliament, while none of the opposition parties won more than five seats.

Lewis Mudge, Director for Central Africa at the human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW), described the election as "pure theater". Freedom of expression is virtually non-existent in Rwanda. According to other human rights organizations, the government has also been cracking down on opposition members, journalists and civil society activists for years. They are harassed, threatened and intimidated as well as persecuted and arbitrarily imprisoned for politically motivated reasons.

According to Amnesty International, the candidacies of at least six opposition politicians were rejected by the electoral commission with reference to allegedly missing documents, although the politicians had sufficient voter support to qualify for the election.