Rwanda’s numbers are in, and Paul Kagame is apparently way more popular than the rest of his party

President of Rwanda Paul Kagame delivers his speech during the commemorations of the 30th Anniversary of the 1994 Rwandan genocide at the BK Arena in Kigali. (Luis Tato/AFP)

• The ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front-Inkotanyi and its four coalition partners claimed 33 of 53 contested seats in recent election.
• Between them, five opposition parties and one independent candidate accounted for 37.33% of the vote.
• Paul Kagame, on the other hand, saw an eye-popping 99.15% share of presidential votes.

Rwanda’s Paul Kagame seems to be far more popular than the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front- Inkotanyi he heads, with a huge disparity between his share of the presidential vote and the performance of his party and its allies. 

The presidential elections were held on 15 July and Kagame officially came in at 99.15%, while his two challengers Frank Habineza of the Democratic Green Party and independent candidate Philippe Mpayimana got 0.53% and 0.32% respectively.

That puts Kagame in charge for another five years at least, since a 2015 reduction in terms from seven years. He is also eligible to stand for another five-year term.

On 16 July, parliamentary elections took place, for what are known as chamber deputies in Rwanda. That vote did not show anywhere near the same faith in Kagame’s party and its alliance. 

The Chamber of Deputies has 80 seats of which 53 are elected through secret ballot, and 24 women are elected by specific councils from the administrative entities.

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There are also two young people elected by the National Youth Council, and one person is elected to represent those living with disabilities.

Kagame’s Rwandan Patriotic Front- Inkotanyi is in a coalition with the Centrist Democratic Party (PDC), the Party for Progress and Concord (PPC), the Rwandan Socialist Party (PSR), and Democratic Union of the Rwandan People (UDPR).

Rwanda Patriotic Front (FPR) supporters gather during a kick-off rally to support Rwandan President Paul Kagame, in Musanze. Kagame won the presidency in the elections of 2003, 2010, 2017 and 2024 – with more than 90% of the vote. (Guillem Sartorio/AFP)

AFP

The coalition received 62.67% of the vote by Tuesday night with 96.73% of votes counted.

This translated to 33 out of 53 seats.

The Liberal Party of Rwanda came second with 10.97%, with the Social Democratic Party at 9.48% of the vote.

The Ideal Democratic Party has received 5.81%, the Green Party is in with 5.3%, the Social Party Imberakuri (supporter of the truth) has 5.26% and lastly, Janvier Nsengiyumva the only independent parliamentary candidate has 0.51%.

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