Rwanda’s controversial president Paul Kagame attended Arsenal’s Champions League home game against Bayern Munich on Tuesday.
Kagame, 66, had a meeting with UK prime minister Rishi Sunak earlier in the day. A statement from Downing Street said the leaders had discussed the UK-Rwanda Migration and Economic Development Partnership — which includes the contentious migration law that would see the UK send asylum seekers from their shores to Rwanda, where they would be processed under their system — and regional security.
Arsenal said Kagame’s visit to the Emirates Stadium was due to the Visit Rwanda sponsorship deal that covers the men’s and women’s teams.
Kagame was last re-elected as president of Rwanda in 2017, having first taken office in 2000. He was elected to serve his seventh term with 98.8 per cent of the vote, according to the Rwandan National Electoral Commission. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that the election “took place in a context of very limited free speech or open political space”.
Kagame represents the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) party and is its leader. HRW said in its 2023 World Report that the RPF “continued to wage a campaign against real and perceived opponents of the government”. It added that “over a dozen political opposition members…
