Rwanda: When you don't have term limits

Kagame backs opposition ban as Rwanda election nears

https://www.dw.com/en/kagame-backs-opposition-ban-as-rwanda-election-nears/a-694462251 hour ago

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Rwanda's president defended the central African nation's democratic record as campaigning for next month's vote got underway. Two prominent opposition candidates are barred from running by an appeals court decision.

Rwanda's President Paul Kagame said Saturday that his country's democracy reflected the "unique reality of Rwandans" as he launched his election campaign at a rally in the north of the country.

The central African country goes to the polls on July 15 with the incumbent widely expected to extend his 24-year rule.

While Kagame has been praised for Rwanda's economic recovery after the 1994 genocide that claimed 800,000 lives, he faces criticism over rights abuses and political repression.    

What did Kagame say?

Kagame took an apparent swipe at allegations of stifling the opposition after Rwandan courts rejected appeals from two prominent opponents, Bernard Ntaganda and Victoire Ingabire, to remove previous convictions that effectively barred them from contesting. 

"Democracy is often misunderstood or interpreted differently by people, but we have our own understanding based on the unique reality of Rwandans and what needs to change in our lives," he told an audience of thousands of supporters.