Kagame won 99.18% of the total ballots cast, giving him another five years in power, the national electoral commission said in a statement late yesterday.

Democratic Green Party leader Frank Habineza won 0.5% against 0.32% for independent Philippe Mpayimana.

The outcome of the July 15 poll was never in doubt for the iron-fisted Kagame, who has ruled the small African nation as de facto leader and then president since the 1994 genocide.

Only two candidates were authorised to run against him in the presidential race out of a total eight applicants, with several prominent Kagame critics barred.

In the parliamentary elections, the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) and its allies secured 37 of the 53 seats in the Chamber of Deputies which are elected by direct suffrage.

This was down from 40 in the former parliament.

Habineza’s party retained two seats, while the remainder were won by RPF allies.

Another 24 seats in the 80-member chamber are reserved for women, two for youth and one for people with disabilities, voted by indirect elections.