Paul Kagame has held an iron-clad grip on power in Rwanda since taking office 17 years ago and that is set to remain after Friday’s presidential elections, with his victory an almost foregone conclusion. The 59-year-old led a rebel army that ended the country’s 1994 genocide in which about 800,000 people died. He has been credited with turning Rwanda’s economy into one of the continent’s top performers by cutting red tape and improving internet access, roads and electricity supply. Yet his detractors, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, say civil liberties have fallen by the wayside and the credibility of the vote has been compromised by a violent crackdown on his opponents. They are criticisms the authorities reject. Kagame won 93% of the previous presidential vote, in 2010, and reaffirmed his political dominance in 2015, when more than 98% of the 6.28-million people who cast ballots in a referendum voted in favour of a constitutional change that will enable him...
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