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Paul Kagame has been sworn in for a fourth time period as Rwanda’s president after profitable 99% of the vote in final month’s election.
While some hail Mr Kagame for bringing peace and stability to his nation after the 1994 genocide, others accuse him of working a repressive regime in a rustic the place atypical individuals are afraid to overtly criticise him.
Rights teams say the margin of his electoral victory is proof of the dearth of democracy in Rwanda.
Only two candidates had been allowed to face in opposition to Mr Kagame within the 15 July election.
In his 4 presidential elections, he has at all times gained at the very least 93% of the vote.
Several African heads of states had been among the many many 1000’s who attended the ceremony within the packed 45,000 capability Amahoro National Stadium within the capital, Kigali.
In his oath of workplace, Mr Kagame vowed to protect peace and nationwide sovereignty, and to consolidate nationwide unity.
He additionally pledged to “never use the powers conferred upon me for personal interests”.
“Should I fail to honour this oath, may I be subjected to the rigours of the law,” he mentioned.
Mr Kagame has been the actual energy in Rwanda since his then insurgent forces got here to energy on the finish of the genocide through which some 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and reasonable Hutus had been slaughtered, ousting the genocidal regime.
Since then, Rwanda has been comparatively secure, with Mr Kagame looking for to show the nation into the “Singapore of Africa”.
The capital is one in every of Africa’s cleanest cities and is house to the African Basketball League, which is a partnership with the NBA. It hosted the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2022 and worldwide stars like Kendrick Lamar have performed concert events there.
Mr Kagame usually criticises the West, but he has additionally sought to construct alliances, for instance with the UK over the now scrapped coverage of deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda, agreed with the previous Conservative authorities.
While life has improved in Rwanda, Mr Kagame is accused of destabilising the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.
Just days earlier than the July election, a UN report mentioned there have been some 4,000 Rwandan troops in DR Congo, the place they’re accused of backing the M23 insurgent group, fuelling a bitter row between the 2 international locations.
Under Mr Kagame, Rwandan troops have twice invaded DR Congo, saying they had been pursuing Hutu militias linked to the 1994 genocide.
Congolese President FélixTshisekedi was not among the many African leaders on the inauguration.
In his speech, Mr Kagame appeared to criticise Mr Tshisekedi for failing to assist defeat Rwandan rebels primarily based in DR Congo.
Unless that adjustments, he mentioned mediation efforts would not work.
He did not sound like a person prepared to offer into any stress and cease backing the M23 rebels.
Additional reporting by Daily News World Service Africa editor Will Ross
