Rwanda’s Paul Kagame to seek re-election in 2024

Nairobi — Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame says he will stand for re-election in 2024, hoping to extend nearly a quarter of a century in power.

Kagame, who became president in 2000, is eligible to continue in office for another decade after a constitutional amendment in 2015 changed term limits that would have forced him to step down two years later. The changes were approved with 98% of the vote.

He was asked in an interview with the pan-African Jeune Afrique magazine, which was published on Tuesday, about his intentions for next year’s election.

“I am happy with the confidence that the Rwandans have shown in me. I will always serve them, as much when I can. Yes, I am indeed a candidate,” he said. 

“Personally, I no longer know what corresponds to Western values. What is democracy? The West dictating to others what they should do? But if they violate their own principles, how do we listen to them?” Kagame said.

“Seeking to transplant democracy to someone else is already a violation of democracy in itself. People are supposed to be independent and should be allowed to organise themselves as they wish,” he added. 

Kagame won the election in August 2017 for a seven-year term with 98.63% of the vote, according to Rwanda’s electoral commission. He had previously hinted that he could run for re-election, but this is the first time that he has clearly stated he will be running in August 2024.

He has been the dominant force in Rwanda since rebel group the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) came to power at the end of the 1994 genocide, in which an estimated 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed.

Kagame has won international acclaim for presiding over relative peace and economic growth, and Rwanda is considered to be one of Africa's most stable countries. But he has faced mounting criticism for what human rights groups say are the suppression of political opposition and the muzzling of independent media. 

Several prominent opposition figures have been attacked, and some killed, while in exile, including in SA. Kagame has rejected these accusations saying his country respects political freedoms.

The US in 2015 criticised the constitutional change, saying Kagame should step down when his term ends and allow a new generation of leaders to come through.

Reuters