Rwanda’s incumbent President Paul Kagame is set to cruise to a fourth term in office in a landslide victory.

In partial results released by the National Electoral Commission, Rwanda, Kagame is leading in the elections held on Monday.

The Commission said Kagame has 7,099,810 votes, representing 99.15 per cent of the total votes tallied.

He has 99.15% of the vote so far, with about 79% of ballots counted, partial results announced by the electoral commission show.

His two opponents shared less than 1% of the vote.

Mr Kagame thanked Rwandans for their trust in an address at his Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) party headquarters.

His opponents – environmentalist Frank Habineza and journalist and author Philippe Mpayimana – have 0.53% and 0.32% respectively.

The full provisional results are due by 20 July and the final ones by 27 July.

They mirror the 2017 election’s outcome that had the same candidates taking part – which Mr Kagame won with 98.8% of the vote.

The 66-year-old leader again faced no meaningful opposition, with leading figures banned.

At least three aspirants were disqualified from running, including Diane Rwigara, an outspoken critic of Mr Kagame.

The electoral commission says 98% of the more than 9.5 million eligible voters took part in the elections.

They were voting for a president and 53 legislators.

Elections for 27 special seats meant for women, young people and people with disabilities will take place on Tuesday.

Mr Kagame has been the de-facto leader of Rwanda since the end of the 1994 genocide and president since 2000.

Rights groups accuse him of curtailing freedoms since taking office, while his supporters say he had presided over economic growth and helped end ethnic divisions.