RWANDANS went to the polls today in a presidential election that is expected to extend the long rule of President Paul Kagame, who has held power since 1994.

There were long queues at some polling stations.

Voting in the capital Kigali, motorcyclist Jean Claude Nkurunziza said: “This is going to be my first time to vote. I am voting for President Kagame because I have never seen a leader like him before.”

Election authorities say that 9.5 million Rwandans are registered to vote in the population of 14 million. 

The outcome will almost certainly be in favour of Mr Kagame, who is standing virtually unopposed.

His only opponents are Frank Habineza of the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda and independent candidate Philippe Mpayimana, both of whom struggled to attract supporters during campaigning. Mr Kagame faced the same opponents in 2017, when he took nearly 99 per cent of the vote.

Mr Habineza said today that his party “has improved, and we are confident we will perform very well this time.”

Mr Kagame has been in charge since he seized power as the leader of rebels who ended the 1994 genocide.

He was Rwanda’s vice-president and de facto leader from then until 2000, when he first became president. He is condemned by many as a violent authoritarian but praised by others for presiding over impressive growth in the three decades since the genocide.

 In 2015, Rwandans voted in a referendum to lift a two-term limit, allowing Mr Kagame to stay in power until 2034.

However, campaigning groups continue to highlight harsh restrictions on human rights in Rwanda.

In a recent statement, Amnesty International expressed concerns over “threats, arbitrary detention, prosecution on trumped-up charges, killings and enforced disappearances” targeting the political opposition.