Politics

Rwanda’s Kagame sworn in for 4th term as president

Published

3 months ago

August 11, 2024

After a resounding victory in last month’s election, Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame was sworn in on Sunday for a five-year term, extending his nearly 25 years in government.

Following the election commission’s exclusion of eight other candidates, including his most vocal adversaries, the 66-year-old former rebel leader emerged victorious with 99.18% of the vote in the July ballot.

Leaders in the West and the region praised Kagame for his role in putting an end to the genocide in 1994 and transforming Rwanda into a desirable location for aid and investment. However, he has denied all charges of violating human rights, stifling dissent, and aiding rebels in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, all of which have damaged his reputation.

“Our country has been a good work in progress for the last 30 years. This new mandate means the beginning of even more hard work,” Kagame said.

“That expectation to keep improving is not a dream, it is a reality. We can do it and we will do it.”

Thousands of people attended Sunday’s swearing-in ceremony at Kigali’s Amahoro National Stadium, with many of them sporting T-shirts with the yellow, green, and blue colours of the national flag on them.

The audience cheered as the military saluted Kagame with 21 guns. There were twenty-two heads of state from African nations present.

2015 saw a reform to Rwanda’s constitution, giving Kagame more time to serve as president.

The Democratic Green Party’s Frank Habineza and the independent Philippe Mpayimana, who ran against him last month, both declared their defeat.

According to human rights organizations, the election was tainted by a crackdown on the media, the opposition, and civil society organizations. Throughout the election campaign, a government spokeswoman consistently dismissed such criticism.

Human rights advocates claimed that the 66-year-old’s resounding victory served as a clear reminder of Rwanda’s lack of democracy. Out of eight applicants, only two were allowed to run against him; several well-known opponents of Kagame were excluded.

In 2015, Kagame supervised contentious constitutional changes that reset the clock for the Rwandan leader, enabling him to potentially reign until 2034, but also cut presidential tenure from seven to five years.

President Kagame is one of several long-serving African leaders, including Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Paul Biya of Cameroon, who has been in office since 1982, and Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea, who has been in office for 43 years and is the world’s longest-serving president.

Related Topics:Featured President Paul Kagame Rwanda

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Politics

Mali’s junta names spokesman Abdoulaye Maiga new Prime Minister

Published

2 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

A day after dismissing Choguel Maiga for criticising the government, Mali’s governing junta named its spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, as Prime Minister on Thursday, according to state broadcaster, ORTM.

A source close to Choguel Maiga told Reuters that the ruling generals were incensed by Maiga’s remarks over the weekend denouncing the junta’s inability to hold elections within the 24-month timeframe given for the return to democracy.

After promising to hold elections in February, the military authorities, who took control in two separate coups in 2020 and 2021, have put off the poll indefinitely, citing technological difficulties.

Choguel Maiga’s firing coincides with indications of growing discontent and disarray among Mali politicians, even those who first supported the coup and collaborated with the junta.

As the wait for elections continues, Choguel Maiga, a civilian prime minister who was installed by the military junta in 2021, is the most recent to lose support.

He was cited on Saturday as claiming he learnt of the junta’s decision via the media and that there had been no discussion regarding the delay of the elections inside the cabinet.

“It’s all happening in total secrecy, without the prime minister’s knowledge,” Choguel Maiga told reporters.

Before then, he had frequently stood up for Mali’s junta against criticism from foreign friends and neighbours in West Africa who denounced its repeated election delays and military collaboration with Russian mercenaries.

As government spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, the new prime minister, has also made strong public remarks against France, the previous colonial master. One such speech was demanding French President Emmanuel Macron to stop his “neocolonial” and “condescending” behaviour.

Abdoulaye Maiga and Assimi Goita, the leaders of the junta, announced they had kept all of the important cabinet ministers in their portfolios in the new administration in a statement that was broadcast on state television ORTM.

The announcement said that Abdoulaye Maiga will remain minister of territory administration.

Politics

Congo opposition mobilizes protests against constitution review

Published

24 hours ago

November 21, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

In response to President Felix Tshisekedi’s intentions to amend the constitution, opposition lawmakers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have called for national protests on Wednesday.

Tshisekedi, who was sworn in for his second and last term in January, said that a panel would be formed in October to recommend possible constitutional amendments.

According to critics, it may be a ploy to lift term restrictions and give him another chance to run.

Tshisekedi said the current constitution, ratified by a referendum in 2005, needed to change because it did not align with the country’s current realities.

Opposition politicians, including former president Joseph Kabila and past presidential candidates Martin Fayulu and Moise Katumbi, issued a unified statement on Wednesday urging rallies to “block” Tshisekedi.

A request for a response from the Congo’s presidency was not answered.

Patrick Muyaya, the minister of communications, stated on Monday that discussions surrounding the constitutional revision should be de-politicized and that no one should doubt the president’s intentions.

“We’re at the beginning of our mandate… The President of the Republic still has four years to go, and we must avoid attributing intentions to him,” Muyaya told reporters.