Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame will launch his re-election campaign on Friday 14 ahead of the country’s election scheduled for August 4.
Kagame was in June elected by the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) as its presidential candidate in the upcoming poll.
The 59-year-old will battle it out with Frank Habineza of the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda, and Philippe Mpayimana, an independent candidate for the country’s top job.
Addressing a news conference about preparations for the polls, secretary general of RPF Francois Ngarambe said that the ruling party’s presidential campaigns will kick off on Friday in Ruhango District, Southern Province.
“Our candidate will get to every district of the country and depending on topography, twice in some districts. We have our manifesto ready and we shall explain to Rwandans in detail what we intend to bring to them in the next 7 years,” Ngarambe said.
Ngarambe hailed President Kagame’s achievements in various sectors including security, infrastructure and unity.
Kagame is Rwanda’s sixth president, having taken power in 2000.
Rwanda held a constitutional referendum in December 2015 in which its people voted to allow President Kagame to run for a third term in office in 2017. The referendum also shortened presidential term limits from seven years to five years.
Campaigns for the three qualified presidential candidates will officially begin on July 14 and end on August 3, just a day before the elections.
About 6.8 million people will participate in this year’s presidential elections, a significant increase on the 5.7 million who participated in 2010 presidential elections, according to the NEC.
