One person died and dozens were injured during a stampede at President Paul Kagame's campaign rally, Rwanda's national broadcaster reported, ahead of a vote widely expected to extend the incumbent's 24-year iron-fisted rule. Kagame has been Rwanda's de facto ruler since the end of the 1994 genocide which claimed some 800 000 lives, mostly Tutsis but also moderate Hutus. Campaigning kicked off on Saturday, with Kagame addressing rallies in Musanze and Rubavu in northern Rwanda on the weekend. "One person died and 37 others were injured in a stampede that occurred during the RPF-Inkotanyi campaigns in Rubavu on Sunday," the state-run Rwanda Broadcasting Agency reported, using the official name for Kagame's party. He has been praised for Rwanda's economic recovery after the genocide but faces criticism over rights abuses and political repression.
