Kagame defends Rwandan democracy as election campaign kicks off

Rwandas President Paul Kagame defended his countrys democratic credentials as campaigning opened Saturday for the July 15 presidential election, with the incumbent widely expected to extend his 24-year iron-fisted rule over the Great Lakes nation. Nine million Rwandans are registered to vote in the poll to be held concurrently with legislative electionsa first in the country. Kagame has been Rwandas de facto ruler since the end of the 1994 genocide which claimed some 800,000 lives, mostly Tutsis but also moderate Hutus. President since 2000, the 66-year-old will face the same rivals as he did in 2017: the leaderThe post Kagame defends Rwandan democracy as election campaign kicks off appeared first on Guardian Nigeria News.
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