KIGALI, (Reuters) – Rwanda’s senate yesterday unanimously ap-proved a draft constitution to allow President Paul Kagame to seek a third term in office, the head of the senate said, clearing the path for a referendum that is not expected to face much opposition.
Kagame, in power since 2000, won widespread praise for ending a genocide in 1994 of some 800,000 people, most of them Tutsis and moderate Hutus, and for rebuilding the nation.
While praising Rwanda’s economic and social development since then, rights groups say the government severely restricts freedom of expression and does not tolerate dissent, charges the government denies.
Kagame is the latest long-serving ruler in Africa to attempt to extend his hold on power. Similar moves have already sparked violence and instability in Burundi and Congo Republic. So far there has been no unrest in Rwanda.
Senate head Bernard Makuza said he expected the changes to be approved in a referendum, adding Kagame, whose current term ends in 2017, could run for another seven-year term and then two five-year terms, possibly keeping him in power until 2034.
