Rwandan Ruling Party Picks Kagame As Presidential Candidate.

Rwanda’s ruling party on Saturday picked President Paul Kagame as its candidate for the July election, teeing up a contest widely expected to return the longtime leader to office for a fourth seven-year term.

The 66-year-old has ruled over the landlocked African nation with an iron fist for decades and won the presidency in elections in 2003, 2010 and 2017 — with more than 90 percent of the vote.

Kagame’s candidacy was unopposed during the Rwandan Patriotic Front congress that ended Saturday, the party said.

The 47-year-old Member of Parliament secured only 0.45 percent of the ballot in the 2017 election, coming third in polls that rights groups criticised for irregularities and voter intimidation.

The other potential challenger to Kagame, Victoire Ingabire, leader of the unregistered Dalfa Umurunzi (Development and Liberty for All) movement, is blocked from the presidential race due to a past conviction.

Rwanda will hold presidential and parliamentary polls on July 15 after the government decided last year to synchronise the dates for the votes.