By Our Staff Writer – 9^th-15^th Aug 2010

Paul Kagame

Incumbent Rwandan President Maj. General Paul Kagame has won the tiny central African country’s second post-genocide elections with a massive landslide.

“His Excellency Paul Kagame has 1,610,422 votes – this is equivalent to 92.9%.  Fellow Rwandans, this is the result in eleven districts.  Clearly, there is likely to be not much difference even after we announce the result in the remaining districts”; said Chrysologue Karangwa from Rwanda’s Electoral Commission.  Kagame’s win was really never in doubt.  First of all, Kagame still enjoys both local and international goodwill for his role in ending the 1994 genocide that claimed the lives of over 800,000 ethnic Tutsi’s and moderate Hutus. Secondly, since he became president, Kagame has presided over rapid economic growth and stability in Rwanda.

He has also adopted a very hard stance against corruption as well as against political dissent.  All these factors have gravitated to ensure that Kagame’s position wouldn’t come under any real threat; politically speaking at least!  The only real question has been around the margin of his expected landslide.

In the last general elections, Kagame’s landslide was an almost embarrassing 95%.  This time round, it has fallen by a mere 3%.  As small as that 3% drop may look, it is still great testament to the work that Kagame’s political opponents have done under very difficult circumstances.  For example, a key opposition figure in Rwanda was recently murdered under very suspicious circumstance.

Rwanda has in the last few months also attracted a lot of negative publicity of its human rights record as well as over the attempted murder of renegade Rwandan Gen. Kayumba Nyamwasa in Johannesburg-South Africa.