KIGALI - Rwanda's President Paul Kagame secured a fourth term after winning 99.2% of the vote, extending his two-and-a-half-decade rule of the East African nation.
Kagame, 66, defeated the same two rivals he contested against seven years ago: Frank Habineza of the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda, who got 0.5% of the vote, and independent candidate Philippe Mpayimana, who garnered 0.32%, according to the final results released by the National Electoral Commission Monday in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Kagame has effectively ruled Rwanda since 1994, when he led a rebel army that ended a genocide in which about 800,000 people were killed. He was first elected to office in 2002 and has been able to extend his rule after the nation agreed in 2015 to abolish a constitutional two-term limit, potentially enabling him to remain in power until 2034.
Paul Kagame, Rwanda's president, gestures as he speaks during a session on the final day of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan 24, 2015. (Photo: Bloomberg)
