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KIGALI. –Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame has confirmed that he will run for a fourth term next year, which could extend his presidency to nearly three decades.

“I am happy with the confidence that Rwandans have in me,” Mr Kagame told French-language magazine Jeune Afrique on Tuesday.

He was returned to power – with over 90 percentof the vote – in the 2003, 2010, and 2017 elections.

But the president said he was not bothered by the opinion of outsiders.

In the magazine interview, the president said that he was happy to carry on as long as Rwandans wanted him to stay and serve them.

He had previously hinted that he could run for re-election, but this is the first time that he has categorically stated he will be a candidate in next year’s poll scheduled for August.

Asked about what the West would think about his decision to run again, Mr Kagame told Jeune Afrique that “what these countries think is not our problem”.

“Personally, I no longer know what corresponds to Western values. What is democracy? The West dictating to others what they should do? But if they violate their own principles, how do we listen to them?” he asked. – BBC.com