KIGALI: Rwandan President Paul Kagame was sworn in for a third term Friday after winning re-election with nearly 99 percent of the vote.
Many African leaders attended the ceremony in the capital, Kigali. The longtime president had described the Aug. 4 election as “a formality” while campaigning.
The East African nation has virtually no political opposition, and critics accuse Kagame of being intolerant of dissent. He denies it.
“It’s a day of gratitude and I will continue to work for Rwandans with pride and honor,” Kagame said Friday. “Africa is on the right path, and we are going to do just fine.”
Kagame has been de facto leader or president since the end of the 1994 genocide. Because of a change to the Constitution in 2015, he can legally stay in power until 2034.
Human Rights Watch said in a statement that in the months leading to the election it documented a pattern of harassment, arrests and detentions of opposition party leaders and supporters, activists and journalists.
Several were forcibly disappeared or prosecuted after making comments critical of the current government or ruling party, the rights group said.
Amnesty International had described a “climate of fear” ahead of the vote.
Rwanda leader sworn in after winning 99% of vote
Rwanda leader sworn in after winning 99% of vote
Sri Lanka targets 3 million tourists to aid cyclone recovery
- The tourist arrival target, which is an ambitious 27 percent increase over the previous year, will help Sri Lankans recover from Cyclone Ditwah
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka is targeting 3 million tourist arrivals in 2026, a top official said on Monday, after a record 2.36 million last year, as the country seeks to boost revenue and support recovery from Cyclone Ditwah.
Famous for its pristine beaches, ancient temples and Ceylon Tea, tourism is Sri Lanka’s second-largest foreign exchange earner with $3.2 billion in revenues in 2025.
The tourist arrival target, which is an ambitious 27 percent increase over the previous year, will help Sri Lankans recover from Cyclone Ditwah, which hit the island nation at the end of November killing 645 people, said Vijitha Herath, minister of foreign affairs and tourism.
Torrential rains and hundreds of landslides damaged over 110,000 houses as well as key roads, railroads, and bridges causing $4.1 billion in damage according to World Bank estimates.
Growth, which was projected at 3.1 percent for 2026, was reduced to 2.9 percent by the International Monetary Fund in December. An IMF delegation is expected in Colombo this month to conduct the fifth review of a $2.9 billion program with Sri Lanka.
“We are proud that Sri Lanka still managed to record the highest-ever tourism numbers. We are hopeful that tourism revenue will also continue to grow and this will help our economy at a crucial time,” Herath told reporters.
Sri Lanka is also eyeing about $500 million in investment in the tourism sector in 2026 after attracting $329 million from 126 projects last year, said Buddhika Hewawasam, chairman of the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority.
