Paul Kagame was sworn in for a fourth term as president of Rwanda after winning 99% of the vote in last month’s elections.
While some praise Kagame for bringing peace and stability to his country after the 1994 genocide, others accuse him of running a repressive regime in a country where ordinary people are afraid to criticize him openly.
Human rights groups say the margin of his electoral victory is proof of the lack of democracy in Rwanda.
Only two candidates were allowed to run against Kagame in the July 15 elections.
In his four presidential elections, he always obtained at least 93% of the votes.
Several African heads of state were among the many thousands who attended the ceremony at the 45,000-capacity Amahoro National Stadium in the capital, Kigali.
In his oath, Kagame promised to preserve peace and national sovereignty and consolidate national unity.
He also pledged to “never use the powers conferred on me for personal interests.”
“If I fail to honor this oath, I may be subjected to the rigors of the law,” he said.
Kagame has been the real power in Rwanda since his then-rebel forces came to power at the end of the genocide in which some 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were massacred, toppling the genocidal regime.
Since then, Rwanda has been relatively stable, with Kagame trying to transform the country into the “Singapore of Africa”.
The capital is one of the cleanest cities in Africa and is home to the African Basketball Leaguewhich is a partnership with the NBA. Hosted the 2022 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and international stars like Kendrick Lamar They performed shows there.
Kagame frequently criticizes the West, but has also sought to build alliances, for example with the United Kingdom over the now canceled policy of deportation of asylum seekers to Rwandaagreed with the former Conservative government.
Although life has improved in Rwanda, Kagame is accused of destabilizing the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.
Just days before the July elections, a UN report claimed there were around 4,000 Rwandan soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where they are accused of supporting the M23 rebel group, fueling a bitter dispute between the two countries.
Under Kagame’s command, Rwandan troops twice invaded the Democratic Republic of Congo, saying they were pursuing Hutu militias linked to the 1994 genocide.
Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi was not among the African leaders at the inauguration.
In his speech, Kagame appeared to criticize Tshisekedi for failing to help defeat Rwandan rebels based in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Unless that changes, he said mediation efforts would not work.
He did not seem like a man ready to give in to any pressure and stop supporting the M23 rebels.
Additional reporting by BBC World Service Africa editor Will Ross
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