By MOSES K. GAHIGI

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By BRIAN OCHARO

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Thousands of Rwandans in the diaspora on Sunday voted at their nearest diplomatic missions around the world as the country decides who will be their head of state and MPs for the next 5 year-term.

The voting by the diaspora opened the electoral D-Day by Rwanda whose general election opens proper on Monday across the east African country.

In Kenya, Rwandan citizens thronged Mombasa Sports Club to participate in the nation's General Election, where current President Paul Kagame is running for re-election for the fourth time and is the favourite to defeat his two rivals.

The polling station opened early with the first voter casting their ballot precisely at 8 am.

According to election officials, more than 350 registered voters were expected to turn out in large numbers to exercise their voting rights in the coastal city.

Read: Kenya ex-chief justice to lead the EAC observer team in Rwanda

The procedure was such that voters were required to provide identification for confirmation of their registration status. Voters presented passports which had to indicate their dates of entry into Kenya.

The polling station in Mombasa caters to all Rwandan residents in the Coast region who are qualified to participate in the election. Those living in Kwale, Lamu, Kilifi, Tana River and Taita Taveta and want to cast their ballots are required to travel to Mombasa to exercise their voting rights.

However, the queue at this polling station was short initially, but the count continued to increase over time.

The election officials anticipated a voter turnout of more than 90 percent.

Rwanda is only the third country in the East African Community bloc to allow its diaspora to vote. Kenya has twice allowed its citizens to vote in the general election while South Sudan allowed its diaspora to participate in the referendum that enabled it to seceded from Sudan. South Sudan, however, has never held general election since.

Rwanda on Saturday completed three weeks of campaigns which had seen the three presidential candidates give their last push in convincing Rwandans for a vote.

“I have cast my vote at the Rwandan High Commission in Singapore. Yes, I flew from Thailand to Singapore to exercise my civic rights” said Innocent Muvunyi, a Rwandan living in Thailand, after casting his vote.

Gatarayiha Elsa a Rwandan living in Nairobi Kenya, and a first time voter said participating in elections gives her immense pride of a civic responsibility.

“The reason voting is very important is because it is a decision which has ability to change things in one’s nation, it is a point of pride for me to finally exercise that right, I am thankful and I wish everyone good elections”

Up to 2 million Rwandans will vote for the first time, many of who are children born in the last 30 years after the ruling Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) came to power.

Rwanda has stayed stable for most of that time, rising from the ashes of the Genocide against the Tutsi in 1994 to one of Africa’s financial hubs today.

Up to 62,000 Rwandans in diaspora are slated to vote from 70 countries, a threefold increase from the 22,000 diaspora members who voted in the previous presidential election.

Read: Kagame: Why I can’t name my replacement

“Rwandans living in Saudi Arabia turned up in big numbers at the Embassy of Rwanda in Riyadh, to cast their votes in 2024 Presidential and Parliamentary elections. They were excited to exercise their civic right in voting for leaders of their choice” read a statement from the Rwandan embassy in Riyadh on X.

Over the years, the RPF government has deliberately mounted campaigns to engage Rwandans in the diaspora through successful Rwanda days, the most recent being one held in Washington DC in February this year.

Speaking on his last campaign rally in Gahanga, Kicukiro, on Saturday, President Paul Kagame, said “the Monday July 15th election is as good, finished and won.”

He was addressing thousands of supporters at the venue, Kagame said he came to talk about what will be after elections.

“What I came here for is to further our unity and progress. I am talking about what will be (there) after elections, that’s why I talk about security and furthering our development,” Kagame said.

Referring to Western critics of his regime, who have become a mainstay in his campaign speeches, Kagame told chanting crowds, that “What others say does not kill, what kills is poverty and bad politics.”

“The more they talk bad about us, and treat us with contempt, the more they give us energy to prosper”

After leading the Rwanda Patriotic Army (RPA) which stopped the 1994 genocide, Kagame championed a remarkable recovery for Rwanda, improving literacy, human health and the general aspects of development including infrastructure.

But his critics in the West, human rights bodies, and dissidents who fell out with him have continued to blame him for suppressing free speech and undermining human rights.

“You can’t fake unity, you can’t fake excitement, you can’t fake a turn up like this, you can’t fake development, you would be mad.

“But like I said, if they think it can be faked let them also try it,” Kagame said at the rally.

Over 9.5 million Rwandans are expected to vote, and for the Monday July 15 elections, polling stations will open at 7am and be close at 3pm.

Read: At least 9.5m people to vote in Rwanda elections

There are about 2,600 polling stations in Rwanda, including 160 stations set up abroad.

There are polling stations set up at hospitals as well, from district-level facilities to major medical centers, to ease the voting process for patients, caregivers, and healthcare workers.

On Tuesday July 16th, representatives of special groups (women, youth, and people with disabilities) will be elected by the electoral colleges.

The national electoral commission (NEC) has accredited more than 1,000 election observers, including East African Community (EAC) mission headed by Kenya's former chief justice David Maraga.

Former President of Cabo Verde, Jorge Carlos De Almeida Fonseca is leading the African Union Commission (AUC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) joint team of election observers.