Rwanda’s all-powerful President Paul Kagame was sworn in Sunday for a fourth term, saying regional peace was a “priority” in the face of ongoing conflict in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Mr. Kagame swept to victory in elections last month with a staggering 99.18% of the vote, giving him another five years in office.
Several dozen heads of state and other dignitaries from African nations joined the inauguration ceremony at a packed 45,000-seat stadium in Kigali, where many were dressed in the green, yellow and blue colours of the Rwandan national flag.
The outcome of the July 15 poll was never in doubt for the iron-fisted Mr. Paul Kagame, who has ruled the small African nation since the 1994 genocide, as de facto leader and then president.
Rights activists said the 66-year-old’s overwhelming victory was a stark reminder of the oppressive regime in Rwanda, with only two candidates authorised to run against him and several prominent critics barred.
Kigali is also accused of stoking instability in the mineral-rich east of the DRC, its much larger neighbour, by backing M23 rebels fighting Kinshasa’s armed forces.
“Peace in our region is a priority for Rwanda yet it has been lacking, particularly in eastern DRC,” Mr. Kagame said in his inauguration address.
“But peace cannot be delivered by anyone or from anywhere no matter how powerful if the party most concerned does not do what is needed,” he said in an apparent barb targeting Kinshasa.
Mr. Kagame is credited with rebuilding a ruined nation after the genocide, when Hutu extremists unleashed 100 days of vicious bloodletting targeting the Tutsi minority, killing around 800,000 people, mainly Tutsis but also Hutu moderates.
But rights activists and opponents say he rules in a climate of fear, crushing any dissent with intimidation, arbitrary detentions, killings and enforced disappearances. With 65% of the population under 30, Mr. Kagame is the only leader most Rwandans have ever known.
Mr. Kagame has won every presidential election he has contested, each time with more than 93% of the ballot.
In 2015, he oversaw controversial constitutional amendments that shortened presidential terms to five years from seven but reset the clock for the Rwandan leader, allowing him to potentially rule until 2034.
