President of Rwanda affirms bid for fourth term

Rwanda’s leader, Paul Kagame, has said he will try to become president for a fourth time next year, which could mean he stays in power for almost thirty years.

“I feel pleased that Rwandans trust and believe in me,” President Kagame said in an interview with Jeune Afrique magazine on Tuesday.

He has been criticized by rights groups for being hard on the opposition.

But the president said he didn’t care about what people from outside thought.

Mr Kagame was elected as the President in 2017 by almost 99% of the people who voted. An organization called Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that the vote happened when people didn’t have much freedom to express their opinions.

The president said in a magazine interview that he would continue to be their leader for as long as the people of Rwanda wanted him to and as long as he could help them.

He had hinted before that he might run for president again, but this is the first time he clearly said that he will definitely be running in next year’s election, which is set to take place in August.

The 65-year old person has been the most powerful leader in Rwanda ever since his rebel group, the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF), took control after the genocide ended.

However, he didn’t become president until 2000 after Pasteur Bizimungu resigned.

In 2003, Rwanda made a new set of rules called a constitution. This constitution said that the president could be in office for seven years, and after that, they could be chosen again for another term.

But this was changed in a vote in 2015 that caused disagreement.

The changes, which were agreed upon by 98% of the people who voted, allowed the president to be in office for a third time for seven years. After that, the president could then serve two more times, each lasting five years, starting in 2024.

When asked about what the Western countries would think of his decision to run again, Mr. Kagame said that their opinions are not something that concerns us.

Personally, I am no longer sure about what matches with Western values. What is democracy. Is it the West telling others what to do. But if they don’t follow their own rules, should we still listen to them. ” President Kagame asked.

Trying to force democracy on someone else is a contradiction to democracy. He said that individuals should be able to do things on their own and choose how they want to arrange themselves.

Many well-known people who disagree with the current government have been hurt or even died while living in another country.

The Rwandan government has consistently said they were not involved in the killings. However, in 2014, Mr. Kagame cautioned that anyone who acts against the country will face punishment.

In the past, he strongly supported and protected Rwanda’s reputation for respecting human rights and allowing people to have political freedom.