Rwanda’s independent presidential candidate Philippe Mpayimana arrived at Camp Kigali Primary School on Friday at 12pm to cast his vote.

Mr Mpayimana, a former journalist, said his participation in the election will open doors to more ordinary Rwandans to take part in democratic processes in the country.

He is competing against President Paul Kagame, who is expected to garner an overwhelming majority of the votes, and Frank Habineza of the Green Party.

Mr Mpayimana, who has had to endure near-empty campaign grounds, said he is confident that he will get a good result.

The electoral commission will begin announcing preliminary results on Friday evening.

Rwandans in the diaspora voted on Thursday in 98 polling stations across the world, with the exception of neighbouring Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo where the electoral agency said security concerns made it difficult to organise safe voting.