One Dead, 37 Injured in Rwandan Riots at President's Rally



The incident occurred in the district of Rubavu (west), where "there were disturbances at the gate through which participants left" the event of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), President Paul Kagame's party.


"The medical team present at the scene did everything in their power but, unfortunately, one person lost their life, while 37 others were injured", the statement said, adding that "four seriously injured people were transported to the hospital Main of Kigali".


The day before, Paul Kagame, who has ruled the country with an iron fist for 24 years, was present in the district of Musenze, in the northwest of the country, in a stadium filled with several thousand supporters, for the official opening of the campaign.


In front of the crowd, most of whom had been brought by bus, Kagame defended Rwanda's record of "democracy", appearing to respond to criticism about the repression of the opposition.


Nine million voters are registered for the presidential elections which, for the first time, are being held simultaneously with the legislative elections.


Rwanda's de facto strongman since the end of the Tutsi genocide in 1994, which caused 800,000 deaths, Paul Kagame was elected President by Parliament after the resignation of Pasteur Bizimungu in 2000.


He was subsequently re-elected by universal suffrage in 2003, 2010 and 2017, obtaining more than 90% of the vote on each occasion.


He has been praised for Rwanda's economic recovery after the genocide, but is criticized for his record on human rights and political repression.


On July 15, he will face the same opponents as in 2017: Democratic Green Party leader Frank Habineza and former journalist Philippe Mpayimana. At that time, he obtained more than 98.79% of the votes, Philippe Mpayimana 0.73% and Frank Habineza 0.48%.


Several opposition figures (Victoire Ingabire, Bernard Ntaganda) were unable to run due to previous convictions. The courts rejected their requests for the restoration of civil rights.