By Ebi Kesiena
On Sunday, thousands of Rwandans living abroad cast their ballots at their nearest diplomatic missions, selecting the country’s head of state and MPs for the next five-year term.
This diaspora voting precedes Rwanda’s general election, which officially begins on Monday across the East African nation.
In Kenya, Rwandan citizens gathered at Mombasa Sports Club to participate in the election.
Incumbent President Paul Kagame is running for his fourth term and is favored to win against his two rivals.
According to local media, election officials expect over 350 registered voters to participate in the elections, voters are expected to present identification, such as passports, to confirm their registration status and entry dates into Kenya.
Rwanda is the third country in the East African Community to allow its diaspora to vote.
Kenya has permitted its citizens to vote in general elections twice, while South Sudan allowed its diaspora to vote in the referendum that led to its independence from Sudan. However, South Sudan has not held a general election since.
The voting follows three weeks of campaigning in Rwanda, where presidential candidates made their final appeals to voters. Up to 2 million Rwandans will vote for the first time, many of who are children born in the last 30 years after the ruling Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) came to power.
Rwanda has remained stable for most of that time, transforming from the devastation of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi to becoming one of Africa’s financial hubs today. About 62,000 Rwandans in the diaspora are expected to vote from 70 countries, a significant increase from the 22,000 diaspora voters in the previous presidential election.
