Rwanda's Paul Kagame tops presidential poll to secure fourth term through 2029

July 16 (UPI) -- Rwandan President Paul Kagame won a fourth consecutive term with more than 99% of the vote so far in a general election in the East African nation, according to preliminary results.

With 79% of ballots counted in the poll to elect a president, Kagame, 66, was leading his next-placed rival Frank Habineza by more than 7 million votes, the National Electoral Commission said in a news release Monday.

With a turnout of 98%, Habineza received just 9,433 votes, or 0.96% of the vote, while third-place Philippe Mpayimana received 4,338 votes, equivalent to 0.44% of the vote, according to the commission which hailed Monday's presidential election a success despite the two men being the only candidates allowed to run against Kagame.

"These are not just figures, even if it was 100%, these are not just numbers. [They] show the trust , and that is what is most important," Kagame told supporters of his Rwandan Patriotic Front party.

Pending official confirmation, the landslide victory hands Kagame a fresh five-year term, consolidating his position as the leader who has dominated the country's politics for three decades since his Rwandan Patriotic Army led the country out of the 1994 genocide.

Presidents used to serve seven-year terms limited to two terms but Kagame, who has now been in office since being elected president of a transitional government in 2000, managed to amend the constitution via a 2015 referendum to allow him to seek a third term in 2017 and two five-year terms after that.

NEC Chairperson Oda Gasinzigwa said the electoral process took place amid a safe and transparent atmosphere for Rwandans both at home and overseas. Rwandans living abroad were able to participate in voting with more than 40,000 choosing to do so.

However, opposition politicians accuse Kagame's government of imposing harsh restrictions and stirring hostility toward their campaigns amid claims of threats, harassment, beatings and arbitrary detention during the run-up to the elections.

Results of a poll to elect 53 members to the 80-seat Chamber of Deputies , the lower house of parliament, were due to be announced later Tuesday and a special election to choose 24 women MPs, two MPs representing youth and one disabilities MP, via electoral colleges, was underway.

A coalition led by Kagame's RPF, which has been in power since 2003, is expected to win the most seats in the parliament with the final results set to be announced July 27.

Human rights groups accuse Kagame of presiding over suppression of human rights in areas from free speech, right to fair trials and refugee and migrant rights to abuses including torture but supporters credit him with growing Rwanda's economy and largely healing divisions between the country's Tutsi and Hutu ethnic groups.