Rwandan opposition leader Victoire Ingabire has dismissed President Paul Kagame’s landslide electoral win, challenging the legitimacy of an election she claims lacked genuine competition.

 Provisional results announced by the National Electoral Commission (NEC) showed Kagame receiving 99.15 percent of the votes, a total of 7,099,810 out of 7,160,864 counted.

His opponents, Frank Habineza of the Democratic Green Party and independent candidate Philippe Mpayimana, garnered only 38,301 votes (0.53 percent) and 22,753 votes (0.32 percent), respectively.

Ingabire, a former convict, was barred from running in the election. She has criticized the election as neither free nor fair and called on President Kagame to open up Rwanda’s democratic space.

Ingabire argues that the lack of real competition undermines the legitimacy of Rwanda's democracy and restricts the electorate’s ability to choose their leaders.

In March 2024, Rwanda’s High Court denied Ingabire’s application for rehabilitation, preventing her from regaining her civic rights, including the right to travel and participate in elections. She has since taken her case to the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) seeking interim measures to prevent the harm caused by her exclusion from the presidential race. This case is still pending.

Responding to Kagame’s victory, Ingabire emphasized that the results, where Kagame secured over 99 percent of the vote, highlight the lack of competition.

Ms Ingabire said it would not have happened if there was a level playfield.

Ingabire, who has been a vocal critic of Kagame’s administration, left Rwanda for the Netherlands in 1994. She founded a political party in 2006 and returned to Rwanda in 2010 to participate in the presidential election but was arrested, tried, and sentenced to 15 years in prison for inciting divisionism and conspiring against the government.

 In 2017, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights ruled that Rwanda had violated her rights to freedom of expression and defense. She was released on a presidential pardon in September 2018 after serving eight years.

Ingabire has also sought permission to visit her ailing husband in the Netherlands and hopes she will be allowed to leave the country now that the elections are over. Meanwhile, Kagame’s competitors have conceded defeat, as he prepares for his fourth term.

Speaking at the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) headquarters in Kigali after the interim results were announced, Kagame thanked his supporters and emphasized the trust placed in him.

Polling was smooth, with many voters dressed in traditional attire and polling stations decorated like wedding venues. The NEC allowed voters to cast their ballots at any polling station, a departure from previous elections.

Voting ended at 3 pm, with immediate counting, and results from each polling station were consolidated at the district level before being transferred to the national tallying center. Provisional results will be announced on July 20, with final results declared on July 27.