RWANDAN President Paul Kagame said he will run for office again in elections in 2017 after voters approved a change to the constitution to allow him to seek a third term.
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She said the charge “came as no surprise” after a hotly-contested district attorney’s race that drew national attention. He is charged with drugging and sexually assaulting the woman in 2004 inside his home near Philadelphia.
“You have asked me to lead the country after 2017. You clearly expressed your choices for the future of our country”, Kagame said on Friday in his New Year address to the country.
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In contrast, South Africa was forced into two changes to its bowling lineup, with Steyn and Kyle Abbott out injured. Morris was on 99 runs overnight, and will be the first SA paceman to go for 100 runs on debut since Dale Steyn.
Kagame also said he did not think the aim of the constitutional reform “is to have a president for life, nor is it what I would want”.
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Allred says even more victims have contacted her. “It brings back to front and square the issue of his own behavior”. He did not enter a plea and spoke only to confirm he understood the terms of his bail, which was set at million.
However, he has effectively held power since 1994, when his rebel force entered the capital, Kigali, to end the country’s genocide.
A referendum on the change, which drew the backing of 98% of those who voted, prompted criticism from western governments, which worry about the growing list of African leaders seeking to extend their time in office.
Opponents and some global observers say Kagame has effectively stifled democracy in the nation of some ten million.
Despite supporting Kagame’s first two terms in office, in which he won with some 90 percent of ballots in 2003 and 2010, the USA said he should step down in 2017.
Both houses of parliament are dominated by his Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF).
Afterwards, he insisted he would stay put.
RNC feels obligated to warn President Kagame and his clique that they should, and will, bear the full consequences of closing all paths to a peaceful transition to democracy.
Neighbouring Burundi was plunged into chaos in April when President Pierre Nkurunziza’s announcement he would seek a third term sparked months of street protests and violence that has left at least 400 people dead. There is only one opposition party and most oppositional figures in Rwanda are either exiled, killed, or imprisoned.
Several African states have recently lifted or tried to lift constitutional bars to multiple presidential mandates.
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WASHINGTON – The United States hit out on Saturday at Rwandan President Paul Kagame’s intention to run for a third term, saying it was “deeply disappointed” and concerned by the move.
