Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, feared and admired in equal measure, is seeking to extend his 24-year rule, with analysts predicting he will win the election by a landslide.
He has dominated every election since becoming president in 2000, winning with more than 90% of the vote in 2017 with a stunning 99%.
Kagame, 66, is running against the only two candidates allowed to run, with other candidates barred by the state election commission.
President Kagame has been at the helm of Rwandan politics since his rebels came to power after the 1994 genocide that left some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus dead.
Since then, he has been praised for his role in the country’s dramatic revival and unification.
“Rwanda was essentially written off 30 years ago, but thanks in part to the leadership of Kagame and his ruling party, Rwanda has managed to build some stability,” Dr Felix Ndahinda, a scientist on the Great Lakes region, told the BBC.
But critics accuse Kagame of not allowing any opposition to exist, even going so far as to orchestrate cross-border killings of dissidents.
Mr Kagame has always fiercely defended Rwanda’s human rights record and said his country respects political freedoms.
But one analyst told the BBC the election was just a “formality”.
According to the Electoral Council, about nine million people are registered to vote, of whom at least two million are voting for the first time.
The provisional winner should be announced on Tuesday morning.
On Monday, voters will choose the president and 53 members of the House of Commons, while the following day 27 other members of parliament will be elected.
“I’m very excited to vote for the first time, I can’t wait,” Sylvia Mutoni told the BBC.
For most young people in Rwanda, Mr Kagame is the only leader they have ever known.
Even when he was vice president and defense minister from 1994 to 2000, he was the real leader of the country. He has been president since 2000.
The two opposition candidates – Frank Habineza of the Democratic Green Party and independent Philippe Mpayimana – both ran in the 2017 elections, together receiving less than 1% of the vote.
But they are not deterred.
“I believe democracy is a process,” Habineza told the BBC Focus on Africa podcast.
“People are still afraid to express their opinions. I fight for freedom of speech, freedom of the media,” he said.
And some Rwandans are listening. One voter told the BBC he would not vote for the incumbent president.
Celestin Mutuyeyezu, 28, previously supported Kagame, but this election was influenced by Habineza.
“He’s been saying great things about fighting unemployment, and he’s got me,” he said.
But defeating President Kagame could prove difficult.
Diane Rwigara, an outspoken critic of the president, was barred from running in the election, and was disqualified in 2017 as well.
“Rwanda is portrayed as a country where the economy is growing. But on the ground it is different. People lack the basic necessities of life, food, water, shelter,” she told the BBC.
The electoral commission said she had not provided proper documentation.
Although the country still struggles with high youth unemployment, it is one of the fastest growing economies in Africa.
Mr Kagame has been praised for Rwanda’s remarkable economic transformation and stability over the past three decades.
Rwanda is known worldwide for its clean capital and the highest percentage of female parliamentarians in the world, at 61%.
In the book Rwanda, Inc., American authors Patricia Crisafulli and Andrea Redmond describe Mr Kagame more as a corporate CEO than a political leader because of “his drive for excellence” in every sector in the country.
He is also a shrewd politician.
Although he often criticizes the West, he tries to find useful allies, for example by working with the United Kingdom on the now-abandoned plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.
Rwanda is also demonstrating its soft power on the international stage by increasing its appeal through sports, culture and entertainment.
The small East African country is home of the African Basketball Leaguea partnership with the NBA. It hosted the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2022 and international stars such as Kendrick Lamar has performed there.
But Kagame’s diplomacy also has a harsh side.
The elections come days after a UN report said that about 4,000 Rwandan troops in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congowhere they are accused of supporting the rebel group M23.
Rwanda did not deny the accusation, telling the BBC that the DR Congo government lacked the political will to resolve the crisis in the mineral-rich east, where unrest has been brewing for decades.
During his campaign, Kagame promised to protect Rwanda from “external aggression” amid tensions with neighbouring DR Congo and Burundi.
More BBC stories about Rwanda:
Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.
follow us on twitter @BBCAfricaon Facebook on BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
BBC Africa Podcasts
