Paul Kagame, the President of Rwanda, has confirmed that he will run for a fourth term as President next year.
He was quoted as saying: ‘I am happy with the confidence that Rwandans have in me.’
Kagame has been President since 2000. If he wins a fourth term, he will have been leader for nearly 30 years.
In the last presidential election, held in 2017, Kagame won 98.8% of the vote.
Kagame was previously a leader in the Rwandan Patriotic Front, which had been a participant in the Rwandan Civil War, and which came to power after the 1994 genocide in that country. He served as Vice-President until 2000 before succeeding Pasteur Bizimungu after his resignation.
Rwanda is seen by some as an African success story, while critics say Kagame is a dictator who crushes any dissent, and that Rwanda’s economic development is not as impressive as the Rwandan government has claimed.