KIGALI, RWANDA: His Majesty King Mswati III, accompanied by Inkhosikati LaMashwama, was among over 20 African leaders who witnessed a 4th inauguration of Rwandan President Paul Kagame at the 45 000-filled Amahoro National Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The King entered the stadium in a Black Range Rover V12 at around 15:08 hours, a few minutes before President Kagame and First Lady Jeannette arrived.
The King and his entourage arrived in Kigali on Saturday night. Among the African leaders who also attended the inauguration were Kenyan President William Ruto, Zimbabwe’s Emmerson Mnangagwa, the Republic of Congo’s Denis Sassou N’Guesso, Djibouti’s Ismail Omar Guelleh and Togo’s Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe.
Others are Ghana’s Nana Akufo-Addo, Mozambique’s Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, Botswana’s Mokgweetsi Eric Masisi, Angola’s Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco and Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu Hassan, to name a few.
The 67-year-old President Kagame has led Rwanda since 1994, at the end of the horrendous genocide that killed over a million people. He has been in power for the last 30 years.
In his speech, President Kagame thanked Rwandans for renewing his mandate and privilege to lead the country once again, as well as for the progress they have made in the past 30 years of rebuilding.
He further touched on the need for peace and expressed his concerns about what is happening in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, saying that no matter the intentions of those who wish to bring about peace, nothing can be achieved if those involved are not interested.
“Peace in our region is the priority for Rwanda, yet it has been lacking, particularly in the Eastern DRC. But peace cannily be delivered by anyone from anywhere, no matter how powerful, if the party most directly concerned does not do what is needed. Without that, the sincere mediation efforts by the mandated leaders cannot work as intended,” he said.
He thanked SADC’s efforts, particularly its outgoing chairman, the President of Angola, Lourenco, and the President of Kenya, Ruto. The president also spoke about the need to respect each other’s choices, as they will not necessarily agree on everything.
“There is no room for the powerful to impose their vision about how others aught to live or to create narratives that falsify the truth. This must always be resisted, even when under pressure. There is also no excuse for injustice wherever it occurs, whether committed against us as Africans or inflicted by ourselves.
“We must learn to adapt our political governance systems to our specific conditions and expectations of our citizens,” he said.
President Kagame came to the fore in the 1990s when he led his Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), which fought and emerged as winners and the war ended in 1994.
During his previous terms, President Kagame served as Chair of the African Union from 2018 to 2019 and Chair of the East African Community from 2018 to 2021. He also served as the AU Champion for Domestic Health Financing. He is the current Chairman of the Commonwealth.
The hallmarks of President Kagame’s administration are peace and reconciliation, women’s empowerment, promotion of investment and entrepreneurship, and access to information technology, a cause he also champions as Co-Chair of the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development.
Kagame was declared the winner of the election with 8 822 794 votes (99.18 per cent). His closest challenger, Habineza Frank, garnered a paltry 44 479 votes, while the third candidate, Mpayimana Philippe, had only 28 466 votes.
In the election, he smashed his own record by winning with more than 99 per cent.This result saw him improve his 2017 election outcomes of 98.63 per cent of the vote, higher than the 93 per cent he got in 2010 and the 95 per cent in 2003.
The two-hour event at the national stadium was to be followed by a State Banquet in the evening.His Majesty the King was also accompanied to the event by Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Pholile Shakantu, King’s Private Secretary Mbongeni Simelane and Head of Protocol Khandlela Mdluli, among others.
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