Kagame tipped for landslide win
Rwandan presidential candidates hold final campaign rallies
RWANDA’S three presidential candidates held their final campaign rallies in the capital Kigali ahead of today’s polls which will elect the president for the next seven years. Hundreds of thousands of supporters cheered as well-known local musicians kept the crowd entertained before incumbent Paul Kagame of the ruling party Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) arrived at his final rally on the outskirts of Kigali.
By contrast, some of independent candidate Philippe Mpayimana’s campaign venues have been nearly empty of people, underscoring a widespread belief among Rwandans the election represents another coronation for Kagame, who won 93% of the votes in the last election and has been in power since 2000.
In Kigali, there was little hint of the coming vote. Presidential candidates are barred from putting up campaign posters in most public places.
At his final stop of the campaign, Kagame repeated his pledge to work to enhance Rwanda’s development, strengthen security, and improve the general welfare of Rwandans. “We know how to make choices for our lives basing on where we have come from and where we are today,” he said.
Frank Habineza of the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda moved around the capital waving at the residents before he arrived at his last rally. “I will end all unnecessary and non-registered taxes to tax payers,” he said.
For two weeks, the candidates have been criss-crossing the country soliciting votes. Many analysts predict Kagame will win.
“I think he will win with well over 90% of the total national vote largely due to his stature and achievement, the strength of his party and the clear weakness of his opponents,” said Christopher Kayumba, a University of Rwanda senior lecturer.
More than 6.8 million people are eligible to vote.
Kagame, 59, has been de facto leader since his rebels ended a 1994 genocide in which about 800 000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were massacred. While he remains popular, some say he uses the powers of the state to remove perceived opponents.
Two decades of often deadly attacks on rivals, journalists and rights activists have created a “climate of fear” ahead of the poll, Amnesty International said last month. “There are many unknown prisons and many people have vanished and died,” said Habineza supporter Charlotte Umutesi. – Xinhua and AP