After a low-key election campaign featuring just two parties, 9.7 million Rwandans are eligible to vote today, July 15, 2024, to choose a president and members of parliament who will serve for the next five years.

Who is on the ballot paper?

Paul Kagame, 66
The incumbent is the favorite to win what would be his fourth term in office under the banner of the dominant RPF. President Paul Kagame, who has led the country for 30 years since the 1994 genocide, has won by a landslide in three elections. Although a previous constitutional clause barred him from running more than twice, Rwandans voted in a 2015 referendum to lift those limits, paving the way for Kagame to remain in power until 2034. The referendum also shortened presidential terms from seven to five years.

Frank Habineza, 47
The longtime environmentalist is running for a second time under his Democratic Green Party of Rwanda despite receiving just 0.48 percent of the vote in 2017, where he was a favorite among diaspora voters.

Philippe Mpayimana, 54
A newcomer and an independent candidate, he is little known in Rwanda except for being a former journalist, professor, and author who won 0.7 percent of the vote in 2017. In 2018, he lost his bid for parliament. Mpayimana currently works as a civil servant in the Ministry of National Unity and Civic Engagement.