Rwanda General Elections 2024 Begin Amid Alleged Direct Military Support To M23 In DRC
Africa | Rwanda July 15, 2024
About 9.5 registered voters in Rwanda went to polling stations on July 15, 2024, to cast their votes in the country's 2024 General Elections. The general elections are 2-tier, entailing a presidential election, and parliamentary elections. In the presidential election, voters are electing the country's next president, while in the parliamentary elections they are electing new members of the 80-seat parliament called Chamber of Deputies.
Image: Downtown Kigali, Rwanda
Looking at the presidential election, there are reportedly 3 presidential nominees contesting for the country's top political position. The nominees are as follows.
Incumbent President Paul Kagame of the ruling coalition called Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF)
Frank Habineza of the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda (DGPR)
Philippe Mpayimana (Independent nominee)
Many African political analysts believe that Paul Kagame will win it and secure a fourth 5-year term in office. He has ruled the tiny landlocked East Africa Community (EAC) member state as president since 2000. Officially therefore, he has been in power for about 24 years.
President Paul Kagame is said to enjoy considerable support from his country's populace. Some of his supporters have reportedly poured praise on his reign for what they say, its exemplary performance in delivering economic development to Rwanda. And their praise may, indeed, be justifiable, because Rwanda's GDP growth is said to have been impressive since he took power, at an average annual growth rate of 8% from 2000 to 2020.
The foregoing notwithstanding, President Paul Kagame's rather long regime has been marred by allegations in various quarters, of grave violations of human rights. Particularly, his regime has been accused of authoritarianism entailing persistent crackdown on opposition politicians and individual critics both within the country and abroad.
Furthermore and more recently, his regime has been accused of deploying troops to another EAC member state, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), to fight alongside the unpopular brutal M23 rebels there. According to the United Nations, Rwanda has deployed between 3000 - 4000 troops to DRC, so far.
This alleged direct active military support to M23 rebels if proven to be true may be very damaging to Rwanda. It may, among others, have serious economic consequences to the country in the long run, given its geographical location. That would be even more so, if EAC were to act, by lets say imposing economic sanctions against it or expelling it from the regional bloc altogether.
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