Rwandan President Paul Kagame has announced his intention to run for a fourth term in the upcoming elections scheduled for next year. In an interview with Jeune Afrique, a French-language news magazine, Kagame confirmed his candidacy, stating, "Yes, I am indeed a candidate." The 65-year-old leader, who has been in power for decades, expressed his gratitude for the confidence Rwandans have placed in him and pledged to continue serving them as long as he can.

The Rwandan government made the decision in March to synchronize the dates for both parliamentary and presidential elections, which are set to take place in August next year. Kagame's intentions were not previously clear, but in 2015, he oversaw controversial constitutional amendments that allowed him to run for additional terms and potentially remain in power until 2034.

Kagame, a former rebel chief, assumed the presidency in April 2000 and has been considered the de facto leader of the country since the end of the 1994 genocide. He has been reelected with over 90 percent of the vote in the elections held in 2003, 2010, and 2017.

While Rwanda is often regarded as one of the most stable countries in Africa, human rights groups have accused Kagame of governing in an environment of fear, suppressing dissent and free speech. The country's ranking in the 2023 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders was 131 out of 180 countries.

In 2021, Paul Rusesabagina, known for his role as a hero in the movie "Hotel Rwanda" and a vocal critic of Kagame, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on terrorism charges. Rusesabagina's arrest in the previous year, which his family described as a kidnapping, occurred when a plane he believed was bound for Burundi landed in Kigali instead.

When asked in 2022 if he would seek re-election, Kagame stated that he would "consider running for another 20 years," emphasizing that elections are about people making choices. Kagame's Rwandan Patriotic Front party came to power in 1994, putting an end to the genocide in which approximately 800,000 people, mostly Tutsis but also moderate Hutus, were killed between April and July of that year.

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