Rwandan President Kagame Wins Third Term in Landslide Vote

(Bloomberg) -- Rwandan President Paul Kagame won a third term in a landslide victory, extending his 17-year reign over the East African country that has been praised for economic growth but dogged by accusations of human-rights abuses.

Kagame received 98.6 percent of the vote in provisional results from Friday’s election, the National Electoral Commission said on its Twitter account. The Democratic Green Party of Rwanda’s candidate, Frank Habineza, had 0.47 percent, and the only other contender, Philippe Mpayimana, an independent, garnered 0.73 percent.

Kagame, 59, led a rebel army that ended a 1994 genocide in which about 800,000 people died, and he’s been credited with turning Rwanda’s economy into one of Africa’s top performers by cutting red tape and improving infrastructure. Detractors such as Amnesty International say civil liberties have been cast aside and the vote’s credibility compromised by a violent crackdown on his opponents. Authorities reject the criticisms.

Kagame was able to seek re-election after a 2015 referendum backed amending the constitution to remove a two-term limit. After a new, seven-year term, he can run for two further terms of five years each, potentially remaining in office until 2034 when he’s 77.

Final but provisional results showed Kagame had 6,650,722 votes, Mpayimana at 49,117 and Habineza with 31,633, the election commission said in its tweet. The government said 6.78 million Rwandans were registered to vote.

Landlocked Rwanda’s economy has expanded an average of more than 7 percent a year since Kagame took office in 2000, and is expected to grow 6.1 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund. Its biggest industries and sources of foreign exchange are tea, coffee, tourism and mining.

In its election manifesto, the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front pledged to create jobs, partner with private companies to encourage new industry, build about 3,800 kilometers (2,361 miles) of roads and increase mineral exploration.

To contact the reporter on this story: Saul Butera in Kigali at sbutera2@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net, Steve Geimann, Hannah Benjamin