President elect, Paul Kagame has began receiving congratulation messages from outside Rwanda. Kenya’s President, Uhuru Kenyatta, who is seeking election on Tuesday August 8, 2017, wrote to Kagame on twitter wishing him the best.
“Congratulations my brother @PaulKagame on your re-election as President of Rwanda. God bless you, God Bless the people of Rwanda,” he wrote. President Kagame responded: “Much appreciated my Brother @PresidentKE. Wishing you all the best.”
Later, his Tanzanian counterpart, President John Magufuli, also sent his congratulation message. In Kiswahili, he wrote on twitter, “Nakupongeza Mhe. Paul Kagame kwa kuchaguliwa kuwa Rais wa Rwanda kwa kipindi kingine. Kwa niaba ya Watanzania wote nakutakia mafanikio mema.
Translated as: “I congratulate you, Your Excellency Paul Kagame for being re-elected President of Rwanda. On behalf of all Tanzanians I wish you good luck/all the best.”
Interestingly Kagame responded in Kiswahili as well. “Kwa niaba ya Wananchi wa Rwanda na kwa niaba yangu binafsi, nakushukuru sana Ndugu yangu Mheshimiwa Rais.” (On behalf of the Rwandan citizens, and on my own behalf, I thank you very much my brother your excellency the President.”
Uganda’s first son,Major General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, also the Senior Presidential Adviser for Special Operations (Uganda) wrote to Kagame.
Internationally, only one of his allies, the USA, has congratulated him through the State Department, but in the message, made false accusations.
“The United States congratulates the people of Rwanda on their active and peaceful participation in the presidential election held August 4,” a statement by the state department read.
However, the statement said, “we are disturbed by irregularities observed during voting and reiterate long-standing concerns over the integrity of the vote-tabulation process.” No clarifications were given whatsoever. The four paragraph report was as brief as that.
Yet, the opposition candidates, Frank Habineza and Phillipe Mpayimana have held press conferences to conceded defeat, congratulate Kagame and also made remarks on their experiences throughout the process.
Mpayimana Speaks Out
Independent candidate, Phillipe Mpayimana addressed journalists after the reading of preliminary results. He conceded saying, “Results show that RPF is better than us.” “But I would like Rwandans to continue with the same spirit during elections. I am happy the elections were peaceful. But when we close polls we shall work together”. He however added that for him this is the start for his project. “I will run again in the next election.”
Frank Habinza speaks out
Democratic Green Party of Rwanda candidate, Dr. Frank Habinza has conceded defeat and asked his supporters to remain calm and thanked them for their unwavering support.
Habineza told reporters in a conference that he has gained more courage and confidence to continue with a “democratic struggle” for “our beautiful country.”
He however asked the national electoral commission to ensure what happened to him during the campaigns gets fixed. He said, “we call upon the electoral commission to rectify some of the obstacles we encountered during the campaigns.”
He also mentioned that the elections were peaceful and thanked all concerned institutions for the role they played. Here is his statement below.
src: Taarifa
