Rwanda’s Election Campaigning is Underway, as President Seeks Another Term

Representing the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), Kagame is seeking a fourth term in office. After moving from vice president to president in 2000, he was elected in 2003 and returned to office in 2017. In 2015, a constitutional amendment allowed for Kagame to run for a third 7-year term and two more 5-year terms if he chooses.

A win in July’s election would bring him closer to staying in power till 2034, putting him in the list of long-serving African leaders who’ve been in office for over three decades. As he’s repeatedly stated in interviews, his continued stay in office is a reflection of the will of most Rwandans. But critics say the East African country’s political landscape is a restricted one.

For the second straight election, Kagame is up againstFrank Habineza of the opposition Democratic Green Party of Rwanda and independent candidate Philippe Mpayimana. They are the only three candidates, out of nine who submitted their candidacy, and were given the green light to contest by Rwanda’s National Electoral Commission.

Diane Rigwara, whose candidacy was rejected for the second consecutive election cycle, stated in an X post that she had been cheated “out of my right to campaign.” According to the electoral commission, Rigwara, a vocal critic of Kagame, had failed to show that she had nationwide support and had failed to garner at least 12 signatures from 8 districts. In an X post announcing the submission of her candidacy documents, however, Rigwara said she presented 974 signatures.

In 2017, Rigwara was barred due to accusations that she forged signatures. She was imprisoned for a year on charges of inciting insurrection and forgery, she was later acquitted and claims the charges were politically motivated.

Another Kagame critic, Victoire Ingabirewas barred from contesting by a Rwandan high court, after she sought to lift restrictions on her ability to contest for public office. Ingabire was arrested and imprisoned for eight years for charges of terrorism, which she says was politically driven, as she was organizing a unified opposition to Kagame’s regime.

Rwanda’s constitution bars anyone who’s served more than 12 months in prison from contesting for president, and even though Ingabire was granted a presidential pardon and served 8 of the 15 years that were handed down to her, her candidacy was ruled out. Similarly, opposition leader Bernard Ntandaga was barred from contesting by a high court, after serving a four-year prison sentence for illegal demonstrations.

Kagame will now be contesting against the same two opponents he beat by the widest margin imaginable in the 2017 elections, where he won a whopping 98.8 percent of the vote. According to critics, part of the reason Kagame continues to dominate in elections is because polls aren’t exactly free and fair, an extension of a political climate where dissenting voices are harshly dealt with.

“Several high-profile critics have been arrested or threatened and authorities regularly fail to conduct credible investigations into cases of enforced disappearances and suspicious deaths of government opponents.,” the Human Rights Watch country page on Rwanda reads. “Arbitrary detention, ill-treatment and torture in official and unofficial detention facilities is commonplace, and fair trial standards are routinely flouted in many sensitive political cases, in which security-related charges are often used to prosecute prominent government critics.”

For Kagame, these external criticisms highlight a double standard, especially from the West, as he believes Rwanda’s democratic situation is apt. “Democracy is about freedom of choice. If that is the case, unless the definition has changed over time, I have never known of any place where democracy has succeeded when principles and ideals have been dictated from the outside,” he said during an interview on national television earlier this month.

“They say you have been there too long, but that is none of their business... Rwandans are the ones to make those choices. They have the freedom to do it. But you find that in most cases, the complaints are from outside. These are double standards; it’s even arrogance.”

Coming off the Kwibuka 30 commemorations, in remembrance of the estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus who were killed during the Rwandan genocide, this year’s election is consequential, at least emotionally. Kagame, — who led the forces that quelled the genocide and has been the de facto leader of the East African country ever since — returning to office will seek to continue his task of growing Rwanda’s economy.

Over the course of 2024, 20 African countries will be holding elections. For more election coverage, check out our Election Tracker.