National Election
Commission chief Kalisa Mbanda announced the approval of the Democratic Green
Party’s Frank Habineza, independent Philippe Mpayimana and Kagame as
candidates, while rejecting three other independents.
National Election
Commission chief Kalisa Mbanda announced the approval of the Democratic Green
Party’s Frank Habineza, independent Philippe Mpayimana and Kagame as
candidates, while rejecting three other independents.
Rwanda’s election
commission on Friday permitted two opposition candidates to run against
President Paul Kagame in elections due on August 4, ruling out three other challengers.
Habineza’s is the only opposition
party permitted to operate in Rwanda, long dominated by Kagame’s Rwandan
Patriotic Front and the only opponent to a 2015 constitutional reform that
cleared the way for the president to run again despite having been in charge of
the country since 1994.
Last month the NEC approved
Kagame and Habineza but rejected the four independent candidates on procedural
grounds, saying they had not met the criteria for eligibility, and gave them
five days to resubmit their papers.
Of the four, only
Mpayimana, a 46-year-old journalist who is little known in Rwanda, was
approved.
Kagame took power in Rwanda
in 1994 at the head of a rebel army that is credited with ending the genocide
that left around 800,000 people dead, mostly ethnic Tutsis.
Mpayimana, who left Rwanda
for the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo during the genocide, lived in
Congo Brazzaville and Cameroon before settling in France in 2003. He only
returned to Rwanda in February to present his candidacy.
Prospective candidates
Gilbert Mwenedata, Fred Barafinda Skikubo and Diane Rwigara were barred from
taking part after failing to collect the requisite 600 supporting signatures
from citizens across the country.
Observers do not expect any
serious challenge to Kagame and his RPF party’s rule in the coming election
AFP
No comments:
Post a Comment