The 99% Dictatorship: Rwanda's 2024 Elections Were Not Democratic - They Were a Performance
A Foregone Conclusion
Rwanda's 2024 presidential election returned Paul Kagame to power with 99.18% of the vote. Turnout was officially reported at 98.6%. These numbers do not reflect the will of the people - they reflect the mechanics of an oppressive regime that has eliminated every avenue of democratic participation.
An election cannot be free or fair in a country where there is no free press, no independent judiciary, no freedom of assembly, and no genuine political opposition. Rwanda meets none of these criteria. The 2024 vote was not a democratic exercise - it was a performance staged for international consumption.
What Observers Found
Independent observers who managed to access the process documented: - No meaningful opposition candidates allowed on the ballot - genuine opponents were disqualified, imprisoned or exiled - Voters reporting intense pressure from local officials to participate and vote correctly, with consequences for non - compliance - No credible independent domestic election monitoring permitted - International media access severely restricted - Opposition figures arrested in the weeks before and after the vote
The Illusion of Democracy
The regime has mastered the art of democratic theatre. Elections are held on schedule. Turnout figures are impressive. But behind the facade lies a one - party state where the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) controls every institution - the courts, the media, the electoral commission, the security services. There is no separation of powers. There is no accountability.
Opposition politicians who attempt to register parties face harassment, imprisonment and worse. Several have been arrested on fabricated charges. Others have fled into exile. Some have been killed - both inside Rwanda and abroad. The regime does not tolerate competition; it eliminates it.
The Genocide Card
The regime uses the 1994 genocide as a political weapon to delegitimise any opposition. Critics are labelled 'genocide deniers' or 'divisionists.' This cynical exploitation of a national tragedy allows the regime to frame every opponent as an enemy of national unity and every criticism as an attack on the memory of the victims.
The Structural Problem
Free and fair elections require, at minimum: freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, freedom of the press, an independent judiciary, and the genuine possibility of alternation of power. Rwanda meets none of these criteria. As long as the regime imprisons opponents, silences journalists, manipulates the judiciary, and hunts dissidents abroad, no election in Rwanda can be considered legitimate.
The Global Campaign for Rwandans' Human Rights calls on international partners to stop describing Rwanda's electoral process as democratic and to stop lending credibility to an oppressive regime through their silence.