Two die in grenade attacks in Rwanda
Two blasts hit market ahead of parliamentary elections expected to uphold President Paul Kagame’s rule.
Two separate grenade blasts have killed two people in Kigali, the Rwandan capital, as the country prepares for elections predicted to bolster the ruling party of President Paul Kagame.
One grenade exploded on Saturday near a busy marketplace in the Kigali suburb of Kicukiro, killing one person and wounding eight, police spokesman Damas Gatare told the AFP news agency.
Another grenade exploded on Friday night in the same area, killing one person and wounding 14, Gatare said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, which were similar to blasts in the capital earlier this year as well as before the latest presidential election in 2010.
Kagame expects win
Kagame won the presidential vote by a landslide, though rights groups said members of the opposition faced threats and attacks.
A coalition led by Kagame’s party, the Rwandan Patriotic Front, is expected to comfortably win in Monday’s parliamentary elections for the chamber of deputies.
Not all deputies are chosen by the electorate. A total of 53 seats are contested by direct voting, while 24 seats reserved for women are chosen by women’s groups and local councils. The nation’s youth council appoints two members and a representative of the disabled is chosen by a federation of disabled groups.
The last elections in 2008 brought in the only parliament in the world where women held a majority, with 56 percent of seats.
Rwanda has undergone a dramatic transformation in the past two decades, with strong economic growth and a drop in corruption credited to Kagame.