Rwanda strongman Kagame wins election landslide
wanda’s President Paul Kagame has been re-elected, with little short of 100 per cent of the vote, according to authorities.<br /><br />In power for 17 years already, his widely expected landslide was celebrated by supporters who hail the country’s peaceful and rapid economic recovery since the genocide of 1994.<br /><br />Critics though accuse his administration of widespread human rights abuses and suppression of political opposition.<br /><br />With 80 percent of votes counted from Friday’s election, the 59-year-old former guerrilla leader had secured 98.66 percent, the National Electoral Commission’s Executive secretary Charles Munyaneza told a news conference.<br /><br />BREAKING: Paul #Kagame leads with 98.6% of votes out of 80% of votes counted – EC #RwandaElection2017 https://t.co/srnnBNMYVT— africanews (@africanews) 4 août 2017<br /><br />Kagame’s main opponent in the poll, Frank Habineza of the Democratic Green Party, claims that his supporters were blocked from campaigning, and some attacked with stones. <br /><br />The President was only able to run for a third term after constitutional changes were approved in a referendum two years ago, again by nearly 100 percent, a figure seen as suspiciously high by the opposition and Western diplomats.<br /><br />with Reuters<br />
