The initial tally in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali has put President Kagame’s Rwandan Patriotic Front (PRF) in the lead by a wide margin.


Rwandans cast their ballots in the country’s parliamentary polls on Monday. According to the polling stations, turnout was quite high, with some 6 million people eligible to vote.

Out of the 80 seats in the central African country’s parliament, 53 are directly elected; while 27 others are saved for women, the youth and the disabled, who are to be chosen indirectly by local and national councils on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The RPF, with currently having 42 out of the 53 directly elected seats, is challenging other small parties in the polls - the Liberals, Social Democrats and the PS-Imberakuri.

The three parties are combating for a small number of seats in the Parliament by winning at least five percent of the vote.

The RPF party took power in Rwanda after it toppled the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) rebel group who conducted the 1994 genocide in the central African country.