Rwanda’s 2024 Elections: Kagame’s Controversial Fourth Term Bid

Rwandans are set to vote on July 15, 2024, to elect their next deputies and president, with current head of state Paul Kagame up for a fourth term.

Kagame, 66, has been the de facto leader of Rwanda since the end of the 1994 genocide and has returned to power with over 90% of the vote in the 2003, 2010 and 2017 elections. The National Electoral Commission announced that candidates will be able to campaign from June 22 to July 12.

In March, the government announced that the presidential and legislative elections would be held on the same day. In September, Kagame announced his candidacy for a fourth term, making controversial constitutional amendments that enabled him to win a third term and potentially allow him to govern until 2034.

Rwanda is ranked 131st out of 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders 2023 World Press Freedom Index.

Kagame was just 36 when the Rwandan Patriotic Front ousted the Hutu extremists from power, accused of being responsible for the 1994 genocide. During his years in power, many opponents, including members of his party, were imprisoned, killed, or fled into exile.