Rwanda’s Paul Kagame secures 4th term with over 99% victory

• Paul Kagame is projected to win an overwhelming majority of the votes in the general elections held on July 15, 2024
• Kagame is leading with 99.15% of the votes, reflecting a continuing trend of electoral dominance
• The initial count tallied 7,160,864 votes out of over nine million expected voters, showing a high voter turnout of approximately 98%

Leading with 99.15% of the votes, Kagame's victory reflects a continuing trend of electoral dominance under his leadership, supported by the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) party.

The initial count tallied 7,160,864 votes out of over nine million expected voters, showing a voter turnout of approximately 98%.

Competing candidates Frank Habineza of the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda and independent Philippe Mpayimana received notably lesser shares of the vote, with 0.53% and 0.32%, respectively.

This election was not just presidential but also parliamentary, impacting the composition of Rwanda's legislative body.

Regionally, Kagame's support varied slightly but remained overwhelmingly in his favor across all provinces and the City of Kigali. In the diaspora, the voting pattern showed a relatively more distributed support among the candidates, though Kagame still led substantially.

The final provisional results are expected to be announced on July 20, with the definitive results to follow on July 27, solidifying the electoral outcome officially.

Big turn-out

This election has been marked by its high turnout and the significant lead of the incumbent, reflecting both the political landscape of Rwanda under Kagame's long-standing leadership and the limited opposition in terms of electoral challenge​

Kagame has dominated every election since becoming president in 2000, with over 90% of the vote. In 2017 he won with a staggering 99% in an election criticized by human rights groups.

He has been the real force in Rwanda since his rebel forces took power at the end of the 1994 genocide which killed some 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

Since then, he has been praised for overseeing the country's dramatic economic revival and unifying the country.