Kigali: An independent woman candidate announced on Wednesday, May 3, that she would challenge President Paul Kagame, joining two other candidates hoping to defeat him in August elections after 17 years in office.
Diane Rwigara, a 35-year-old accountant, said she would work to eradicate poverty, injustice and promote freedom if elected. She does not belong to any political party.
Kagame is widely admired for restoring stability to the East African nation after its 1994 genocide, presiding over rapid economic growth and a relatively corruption-free government.
But rights activists say that came at the expense of civil liberties. Some of Kagame‘s political opponents have been killed after they fled abroad, in cases that remain unsolved.
Rwigara said she understood how victims of rights abuses felt. Her father died in a car accident in 2015 that her family maintains was politically motivated.
“Other Rwandans face similar problems, not just my family alone and therefore I have to end their misery,” she told a press conference in Kigali. FULL STORY
