By Frank Kamuntu
Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame said Saturday that his country’s democracy reflected the “unique reality of Rwandans” as he launched his election campaign at a rally in the north.
The central African country goes to the polls on July 15 with the incumbent widely expected to extend his 24-year rule.
While Kagame has been praised for Rwanda’s economic recovery after the 1994 genocide that claimed 800,000 lives, he faces criticism over rights abuses and political repression.
Kagame took an apparent swipe at allegations of stifling the opposition after Rwandan courts rejected appeals from two prominent opponents, Bernard Ntaganda and Victoire Ingabire, to remove previous convictions that effectively barred them from contesting.
“Democracy is often misunderstood or interpreted differently by people, but we have our own understanding based on the unique reality of Rwandans and what needs to change in our lives,” he told an audience of thousands of supporters.
“Our politics today, as we start our campaign, and seek your vote; when you do this, what is in peoples’ mind and hearts, is this politics of wanting to transform Rwanda, to transform the lives of Rwandans for the better, and achieve as much as anyone or even more,” Kagame added.
Kagame will face Frank Habineza, the leader of the opposition Democratic Green Party and former journalist, Philippe Mpayimana, who is running as an independent in the presidential election.
The country will also hold legislative elections on the same day with 589 candidates vying for the 80 seats in the lower house of parliament.
Kagame’s Rwandan Patriotic Front currently holds 41 of the 53 seats allocated for parties, while opposition parties have 13 seats, including the Social Democratic Party on 5 and the Liberal Party on 4.
The remaining 27 seats are reserved for women elected by provincial councils and representatives from youth and disabled groups.
As well as Ntaganda and Ingabire being ineligible to run, Diane Rwigara, a fierce critic of Kagame, was rejected by the election commission as she had not shown that she had received 600 supporting signatures from citizens.
The 42-year-old Rwigara fell out with the leaders of Kagame’s party before being detained and disqualified from running in 2017 over allegations of forgery. She was later acquitted.
In another news, in an exclusive interview with France 24, President Kagame declared Rwanda’s readiness to go to war with the Democratic Republic of Congo if necessary, stating, ‘they are ready to fight and are not afraid of anything.’
This follows accusations from Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi, who claimed Rwanda is organizing a genocide in Eastern DRC. Kagame responded by accusing Tshisekedi of promoting a genocidal ideology against Congolese Tutsis.
Kagame also refused to confirm the presence of Rwandan soldiers in the DRC, emphasizing the need to address the root causes of regional tensions.
These statements underscore the rising tensions between Rwanda and the DRC and highlight the challenges facing Kagame as the election approaches.”
The decades-long conflict in eastern Congo has produced one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with over 100 armed groups fighting in the region, most for land and control of mines with valuable minerals. Some are fighting to try to protect their communities. Many groups are accused of carrying out mass killings, rapes and other human rights violations.
The violence has displaced about 7 million people, including thousands living in temporary camps like the one that was attacked last month. Many others are beyond the reach of aid.
