Paul Kagame secures 4th term as Rwanda President after 24 years in the position

President Paul Kagame of Rwanda won 99.15 percent of the votes in the country’s presidential election to secure a fourth term.

Rwanda’s electoral body said only about 79 percent of ballots have been counted. 

Authorities said 9.5 million Rwandans registered to vote.

The country has a population of 14 million.

Kagame, 64, is qualified to continue in office till 2034 after a constitutional amendment in 2015 changed a two-term limit. 

Only two challengers were allowed to run against him. 

Kagame’s opponents: Frank Habineza of the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda and independent candidate Philippe Mpayimana, received less than one percent each in the provisional results. 

The result is the same as in 2017 when Kagame swooped in nearly 99 percent of the votes.

Kagame seized power as the head of rebels who took control of the government and ended the genocide in 1994, becoming vice-president and de facto leader from then to 2000, when he became president on 22 April 2000.