Incumbent President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame has won presidential elections according to partial preliminary results where he picked up 99.15 per cent.
The national electoral commission has just released the results after a- 79 per cent vote count.
Frank Habineza, of the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda earned 0.53 per cent while Independant candidate Philippe Mpayimana afforded 0.32 per cent.
According to the chairperson of National Electoral Commission (NEC) Oda Gasinzigwa, the turn in diaspora was 52.73 per cent.
With 65 percent of the country’s population aged under 30, Kagame – who is running for a fourth term – is the only leader most Rwandans have ever known.
The 66-year-old is credited with rebuilding a traumatised nation after the genocide unleashed by Hutu fighters that killed nearly 800,000 people, mainly Tutsi but also Hutu centrists, in 1994.
But his regime is widely criticised by rights groups as autocratic, stifling the media and political opposition with arbitrary detentions, killings and enforced disappearances.
Abroad, it faces accusations of stoking instability in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, where a UN report says Rwandan troops are fighting alongside M23 rebels in the troubled east. Kigali has denied the allegations.
Kagame has also overseen controversial constitutional amendments that shortened presidential terms from seven to five years and reset the clock for the Rwandan leader, allowing him to potentially rule until 2034.
Yet despite his many critics, Kagame enjoys great support at home, having overseen economic growth rates of an average of 7.2 percent between 2012 and 2022 and the development of infrastructure including hospitals and roads.