RWANDA
President Paul Kagame and the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) are gearing up for the country’s presidential and parliamentary elections, which take place on July 15.
Kagame, who has been president since 2000, will contest against the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda’s Frank Habineza, and an independent candidate, Philippe Mpayimana.
It is a small field of candidates which many argue has been calculatingly clipped to safeguard the hegemony of the RPF. The leader of the People Salvation Movement, Diane Rwigara, was excluded as a presidential contender on technical grounds after the country’s electoral commission ruled that she failed to provide the obligatory documentation.
