Rwandans take to the polls

Today Rwandans will make their mark in the presidential elections that will see the election of their leader for the next seven years.

There are three presidential contenders, incumbent President Paul Kagame of the ruling party Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), Frank Habineza of the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda (DGPR) and Philippe Mpayimana, an independent candidate.

Voting got underway from 7am and will end at 3pm. Police officers have been deployed at all polling centres to ensure security and safety before, during and after the polls

The National Electoral Commission (NEC) has set up 2 340 polling centres and 16 691 polling rooms across the country which will minimize long queues during the elections.

Over 6.8 million people will participate in this year’s presidential elections, up from 5.7 million, who participated in the 2010 presidential elections.

On Thursday, the South African government wished Rwanda and Kenya well ahead of the elections and called for peaceful and credible elections.

Africans believe in peace, security and development and principles of free, fair and credible elections. That’s what we expect of our fellow members.

This is the value we have chosen to silence the guns by 2020 in line with the aspirations of the Agenda 2063, International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashbane said on Thursday.

Kenyans will participate in the closely contested elections next Tuesday.

Source: South African Government News Agency

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