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Rwanda

https://www.idea.int/democracytracker/

August 2024

Intensified crackdown on religious institutions as authorities shut thousands of churches

The Rwanda Governance Board (RGB) and the Ministry of Local Government announced that they had closed down nearly 8,000 churches and a few mosques in August for failing to meet regulatory standards. It has affected mostly small Pentecostal churches – some of them operating out of caves or on the banks of rivers. This followed a two-week period beginning at the end of July of intensified inspections of over 13,000 churches – out of which 59.3 per cent have now been closed. Authorities cited non-compliance with infrastructure, safety, and leadership training requirements. This is the biggest major crackdown since law 72/2018 was introduced six years ago to regulate places of worship and which subsequently resulted in the closure of 700 churches that same year. The law mandates organized operations, safe environments, bans loud public address systems, and requires preachers to have theological training. Some critics have described the latest attempt to regulate places of worship in Rwanda as an attempt by Kagame to further centralize power in the hands of the state.  

Sources: The New Times, BBC, Monitor, Igihe, The East African, RwandaLII, Council on Foreign Relations

July 2024

Incumbent Kagame wins presidential election with 99 per cent of vote
Election flag

Rwanda’s presidential and legislative elections were held on 15 and 20 July, respectively. The presidential contest was won by incumbent, Paul Kagame, who secured a fourth term with over 99 per cent of the vote, according to the official results released by the National Electoral Commission (NEC). Frank Habineza of the Democratic Green party came second with 0.53 per cent of the vote and independent candidate Philippe Mpayimana third with 0.32 per cent. Habineza and Mpayimana (both men), were the only two opposition candidates to be approved to run, after several others (including women candidates) were barred by the NEC from running.  In the legislative elections, the ruling coalition, Rwandan Patriotic Front-Inkotanyi secured 37 out of 80 seats in the Chamber of Deputies (Lower Chamber), followed by the Social Democratic Party and the Green Party with 5 seats each. 51 women were elected (24 indirectly under the country’s gender quota system), an increase from 48 women elected in 2018. Voter turnout was reported by the NEC to be 98 per cent of registered voters. International election observers from various regional organizations described the voting process as peaceful and orderly. 

Sources: France24, The East African, Rwandan National Electoral Commission, BBC, Al Jazeera, COMESA, Reuters, The Chronicles, Parliament of the Republic of Rwanda

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Global ranking per category of democratic performance in 2023

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Representation
125/173
Rights
136/173
Rule of Law
119/173
Participation
153/173
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Basic Information

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Population Tooltip
14 094 683
System of government
Presidential system
Head of government
Prime Minister Édouard Ngirente (since 2017)
Head of government party
Independent
Electoral system for lower or single chamber
List Proportional Representation
Women in lower or single chamber
63.8%
Women in upper chamber
34.6%
Last legislative election
2024
Head of state
President Paul Kagame
Selection process for head of state
Direct election (two-round majority)
Latest Universal Periodic Review (UPR) date
25/01/2021
Latest Universal Periodic Review (UPR) percentage of recommendations supported
56.34%
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Human Rights Treaties

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State Party State party
Signatory Signatory
No Action No action
United Nations Human Right Treaties
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
State Party
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
State Party
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
State Party
Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
State Party
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment
State Party
Convention on the Rights of the Child
State Party
International Convention on Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
State Party
International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance 
No Action
International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
State Party
International Labour Organisation Treaties
Forced Labour Convention
State Party
Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention
State Party
Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention
State Party
Equal Remuneration Convention
State Party
Abolition of Forced Labour Convention
State Party
Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention
State Party
Convention concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment
State Party
Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention
State Party
Regional Treaties
African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights
State Party
in
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Performance by category over the last 6 months

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Representation neutral Rule of law
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Representation neutral Participation
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Global State of Democracy Indices

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Explore the indices
Representation
Representation
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Rights
Rights
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Rule of Law
Rule of Law
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high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Participation
Participation
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/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4

Factors of Democratic Performance Over Time

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