{"id":342185,"date":"2017-08-05T10:41:01","date_gmt":"2017-08-05T10:41:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=342185"},"modified":"2017-08-05T10:41:01","modified_gmt":"2017-08-05T10:41:01","slug":"rwanda-election-president-paul-kagame-wins-by-landslide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/08\/rwanda-election-president-paul-kagame-wins-by-landslide\/","title":{"rendered":"Rwanda election: President Paul Kagame wins by landslide"},"content":{"rendered":"
President Paul Kagame of Rwanda has won a third term in office with a landslide, the country’s electoral commission has announced.<\/p>\n
Partial results of Friday’s election gave him 98% of the votes, it said.<\/p>\n
Mr Kagame’s supporters, who say that he has brought stability and economic development after the horrors of the 1994 genocide, began celebrating before the announcement.<\/p>\n
Critics – most of whom are outside the country – say he rules through fear.<\/p>\n
After his victory, Mr Kagame vowed to keep up the country’s economic growth.<\/p>\n
“This is another seven years to take care of issues that affect Rwandans and ensure that we become real Rwandans who are [economically] developing,” Mr Kagame said in a speech broadcast on live television.<\/p>\n
Mr Kagame, who has been in power for 17 years, was challenged by Frank Habineza, from the Democratic Green Party, and Philippe Mpayimana, an independent.<\/p>\n
Another independent challenger, businesswoman and rights activist Diane Shima Rwigara, was disqualified by the electoral commission.<\/p>\n
The remaining eight opposition parties did not put forward a candidate and instead backed President Kagame.<\/p>\n
The president previously called the election “just a formality”.<\/p>\n