Rwandan President Paul Kagame is to extend his 24-year rule by another five years in a landslide victory, with most of the votes counted from Monday’s election.
By then he had obtained 99.15% of the vote, with about 79% of ballots counted.
The 66-year-old again faced no meaningful opposition, with leading figures banned. His two opponents shared less than 1% of the vote.
“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 said.
His opponents – environmentalist Frank Habineza and ex-journalist and government adviser Philippe Mpayimana – received 0.53% and 0.32% respectively.
The full provisional results are due by 20 July and final ones by 27 July.
The results are virtually the same as those in the 2017 election’s outcome that had the same candidates taking part: Kagame won with 98.8%.
At least three aspirant candidates were disqualified from running, including Diane Rwigara, an outspoken critic of Kagame.
The electoral commission says 98% of the more than 9.5 million eligible voters took part in the elections.
They were voting for a president and 53 legislators.
Elections for 27 special seats meant for women, young people and people with disabilities were to take place on Tuesday.
Kagame has been the de facto leader of Rwanda since the end of the 1994 genocide and president since 2000.
Rights groups accuse him of curtailing freedoms since taking office, while his supporters say he has presided over economic growth and helped end ethnic divisions.