Presidential elections were held in

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

on 4 August 2017. The incumbent

President of Rwanda This article lists the presidents of Rwanda since the creation of the office in 1961 (during the Rwandan Revolution), to the present day. The president of Rwanda is the head of state and head of executive of the Republic of Rwanda. The presid ...

Paul Kagame Paul Kagame (; born 23 October 1957) is a Rwandan politician and former military officer who is the 4th and current president of Rwanda since 2000. He previously served as a commander of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a Uganda-based rebel ...

, was re-elected to a third seven-year term with 98.79% of the vote.

Background

A referendum in 2015 approved constitutional amendments that allow incumbent President Paul Kagame to run for a third term in office in 2017, as well as shortening presidential terms from seven to five years, although the latter change would not come into effect until 2024.Paul Kagame's third term: Rwanda referendum on 18 December
BBC News, 9 December 2015

Electoral system

The

is elected in one round of voting by plurality.

Candidates

Kagame announced that he would run for a third term in a televised address to mark the start of 2016, saying "You requested me to lead the country again after 2017. Given the importance and consideration you attach to this, I can only accept. But I don't think that what we need is an eternal leader." In February 2017, Philippe Mpayimana announced his candidacy as an independent candidate. A former journalist and author, he had lived outside Rwanda since 1994 and worked with humanitarian organisations. 35-year-old businesswoman

Diane Rwigara Diane Shima Rwigara is a Rwandan businesswoman and accountant who stood as an independent candidate in the 2017 Rwandan presidential election. Rwigara was charged on 23 September 2017, alongside her mother and four other defendants, with "inciting ...

announced her candidacy, running as a critic of Kagame. Days after she launched her campaign, nude photos of Rwigara were leaked onto the Internet in an attempt to discredit her. On 7 July the National Electoral Commission disqualified Rwigara and two other candidates on technical grounds, alleging they had not collected enough valid signatures. The commission's decision was criticised by the

US State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...

and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

, while

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

said that the election would be held in a "climate of fear and repression."

Democratic Green Party of Rwanda The Democratic Green Party of Rwanda (DGPR; french: Parti vert démocratique du Rwanda, PVDR; rw, Ishyaka Riharanira Demokarasi no Kurengera Ibidukikije, IRDKI) is a green political party in Rwanda, established in 2009. The party was registered ...

leader

Frank Habineza Frank Habineza is Rwandan politician founder and chairman of the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda, a political party formed in August 2009 in Rwanda. In its first year, the party made six unsuccessful attempts to register. As of mid-August 2010 ...

also declared his candidacy.

Results

Aftermath

Following his victory, Kagame was sworn in for his third presidential term on 18 August 2017.

References

{{Rwandan elections

Presidential

Presidential elections in Rwanda