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Rwandan voters line up to cast their votes on Monday morning
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KIGALI
President Paul Kagame cast his vote today afternoon at SOS Kagugu polling station in Kinyinya, Gasabo district, Kigali city, in a presidential election where he is competing with two other candidates, Dr. Frank Habineza and Phillipe Mpayimana. President Kagame was accompanied by Rwanda’s First Lady, Jeannette Kagame, who also cast her vote at the same polling station. President Kagame is running on the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) - Inkotanyi ticket, while Habineza represents the Democratic Green Party (DGP). Mpayimana is an independent. A total of 589 candidates are also vying for 80 parliamentary seats. If President Kagame wins the election, he will be set to govern Rwanda for the fourth term since his first election on August 25, 2003.
Presidential candidate Mpayimana also cast his vote at Camp Kigali School polling site in Nyarugenge District. Speaking to the media after voting, he said: “People should remind me of the promises I made to ensure they are implemented. If someone else wins, you should also remind them to consider and implement the ideas I proposed if Rwandans found them valuable."
Mpayimana
Mpayimana, a journalist by profession, had been living in Europe before running for President in this election. Candidate Habineza and his wife cast their ballots at GS Kimironko II, Gasabo district, in Kigali. Speaking to the media after voting, he said he was confident of winning the election with 55% of the votes. “I will accept the results as long as the elections are conducted in a free and fair atmosphere,” he said.
Born on February 22, 1977, Habineza is the chairperson of the Democratic Green Party and an MP.
Kenya’s former Chief Justice David Maraga led the East African Community (EAC) election observers’ mission in Rwanda. Maraga said his team held meetings with the Rwanda National Police, NEC, and Rwanda’s Chief Justice before the elections, adding that they would issue a report on July 17.
“Generally, what we see is that the organization is fantastic. I went to a polling station before 7 am. I saw how the head of the station and polling clerks were sworn in and how they opened ballot boxes to show they were empty and sealed them,” he said.
Official voting started at 7:00 am and ended at 3:00 pm. According to the electoral body, there are over 2,400 polling stations manned by over 100,000 volunteers in the country. The number of voters is about nine million. Of the nine million voters, two million are new on the voters’ register. Partial results for Members of Parliament will be announced on Tuesday.
While Rwandans in the country voted yesterday, those in the diaspora voted on Sunday. In Kampala, thousands lined up to cast their votes at the Rwandan High Commission in Kampala.
Over 1,000 local and foreign observers were accredited for the presidential and parliamentary elections. Of these, 776 observers are from Rwanda, while 334 others are from foreign countries. The foreign observers represent various regional and international organizations, including the African Union, European Union, the East African Community, Commonwealth, International Organisation of the Francophonie, the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, and the Economic Community of Central African States.
According to the electoral body chairperson, Oda Gasinzigwa, partial results of the elections were to be announced today evening, July 15, while provisional results will be announced on July 20, and the final results on July 27.
