Rwanda goes to polls

  1. Posted on Monday 9 August 2010 - 08:45
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    Nangayi Guyson, AfricaNews reporter in Kampala, Uganda
    Rwandans are voting on Monday to elect a new president with incumbent Paul Kagame highly tipped to win by a landslide. Kagame who won the elections in 2003 with 95% of the vote now faces three rivals in the election, all with links to the president's all-powerful Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF).
    Kagame billboard
    Kagame's supporters say he has brought both stability and steady economic growth since the country's genocide in 1994.

    His critics accuse him of suppressing opposition and undermining democracy.

    But as he completed campaigning, Kagame told critics among rights groups and the international community they should "not tell us how to shape our country" in a BBC report.

    He said of his RPF: "It is strong, it is organized, it has planned over a long time, historically it has been with the people to resolve challenging issues and therefore that results in a kind of overwhelming support. I have no regrets about it, I make no apologies."

    President Kagame's posters are plastered right across the capital Kigali and also deep in the villages. You have to hunt very hard for any posters of the challengers.

    His supporters say he has strengthened agricultural output, rebuilt the country's institutions, tackled corruption effectively and promoted women's rights and an environmentally friendly agenda.

    Kagame has held massive election rallies attended by tens of thousands of supporters. His rivals have only managed much smaller rallies.

    Jean Damascene Ntawukuriryayo, of the PSD, told supporters: "We see our policies as a continuation of those of the RPF."

    Some more vocal opponents of Kagame were prevented from fielding candidates and have complained of intimidation.

    However, Electoral Commission spokesman Pacifique Nduwimana said that "everything went smoothly" during the campaign, with no incidents of violence.

    Nduwimana said voting material was being brought to polling stations on Sunday ahead of the vote.

    This is only the second presidential election since 1994, and five million Rwandans are registered to vote.

    The Electoral Commission has accredited 1,394 observers, 214 of them from abroad, including from the African Union and Commonwealth.

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