Kagame Reflects on Dominant Electoral Victories Amidst Political Landscape Shifts

By The Inspirer writer.

President Paul Kagame has commented on his previous landslide election victories and their implications for the country’s political landscape.

The 66-year-old secured a landslide victory in the 2017 elections, with 98.7 per cent votes, following earlier triumphs of 93 per cent in 2010 and 95 per cent in 2003.

In an interview with France 24 on Thursday, June 20, Kagame was asked if he thought being elected with 90 per cent or more was healthy for Rwanda. In the interview, Kagame also said the security crisis in DR Congo poses a threat to Rwanda due to the continued collaboration between the Congolese army and the FDLR, a UN-sanctioned militia linked to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

“The situations and contexts are different. I don’t even mind that somebody is elected by 15 per cent if that is their context. But why should you worry about somebody being elected with 90 per cent if that is their context, because in the end it is the context that decides,” Kagame responded.

Campaigns for the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections are scheduled to begin on Saturday, June 22, and run for three weeks until mid-July, before the elections take place on July 15.

The incumbent is up against Democratic Green Party’s Frank Habineza and independent candidate Phillippe Mpayimana, the same opponents he faced back in 2017.

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