President Kagame seeks more votes as campaigns near end

Rwandan president Paul Kagame was met by crowds of admiring supporters at a rally on Friday in Gasabo, some twelve kilometers away from Kigali city center, as he campaigned to win a fourth term as president.

Kagame was driven atop an open van as he waved to thousands of supporters, before alighting and leading the crowd in his party Rwanda Patriotic Front's (RPF) slogans and chants.

Kagame said "I have come to say thank you in advance. May you keep focus on the important things and do not be distracted by the detractors."

Rwandans will vote Monday in an election that will almost certainly extend the long rule of President Paul Kagame, who is running virtually unopposed after three decades in power.

Campaign rallies close Saturday. Monday's vote is expected to extend Kagame's rule by five years. A total of 9.5 million Rwandans are registered to vote, according to electoral authorities.

His challengers — Frank Habineza of the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda and independent candidate Philippe Mpayimana — have struggled to pull crowds to their events.

Kagame faced the same opponents in 2017, when he took nearly 99% of the vote. Observers say a similar result is expected this year as serious opposition to Kagame has long been absent in the country.

Kagame, 66, came to power as the leader of rebels who took control of Rwanda's government and ended the genocide in 1994.

Kagame was Rwanda's vice president and de facto leader from 1994 to 2000, when he first became president.

He has since ruled the East African country as an authoritarian leader who is intolerant of political dissent.

Some of his supporters were full of praise of his leadership and were optimistic at the sure prospect of fourth presidential term for Kagame.

"We are voting for him because there are many things he has done in the past and now he is continuing to do many things into the future. So we are very happy because as you can see there are many things that you can count that our president has done," said one supporter, Nkomezi Jean-Claude.

"In the past women had no say in this country, we were uneducated. But now we have a say, our daughters go to school and even our husbands have employment, all because of Paul Kagame," added Mukagasana Josianne.