Rwandans held their first true presidential election Monday, after a campaign dominated by talk of healing the 9-year-old wounds of genocide but marred by reports of authorities harassing opposition supporters.

Map of Rwanda      [CIA]

Supporters of incumbent President Paul Kagame — who is expected to win — and Faustin Twagiramungu, the leading opposition candidate, all agreed on the need to create jobs, raise income levels and provide more access to education.

More than 60 percent of Rwanda's 8.2 million people live on less than a dollar a day, and its economy was shattered by the 1994 ethnic bloodshed that left half a million people dead, mainly minority Tutsis.

"We now have peace and security," said Emmanuelle Bijogo, a 20-year-old in Kigali. Now "the government needs to create more jobs for people."

Bijogo said he plans to vote for Kagame because of the president's record and the sense that "if Kagame is removed, there will be trouble."

The election is Rwanda's first contested vote since independence from Belgium in 1962. First results are expected early Tuesday and the winner will be announced Wednesday.

Kagame, a minority Tutsi, led the rebels who in 1994 toppled a regime of extremists from the Hutu majority, ending the 100-day slaughter.

He then led the fight against remnants of the genocidal regime who attacked the country from bases in neighboring Congo. At the same time, the government rebuilt schools and hospitals, nursed the economy back to health and started the process of reconciliation.

It is a record that has made Kagame popular among Rwandans. Backed by seven of the country's nine recognized political parties, he is expected to win the election.

But unemployment remains high and Rwanda is struggling to diversify an economy dependent on coffee and tea exports and foreign aid, which covers more than half of the country's budget.

A number of Twagiramungu supporters said the lack of economic opportunities was a key factor in their decision at the polls.

But all refused to give their names for fear of retribution by the authorities — a common refrain heard from Twagiramungu supporters throughout the campaign.

Though officials deny any harassment of the opposition has taken place, European Union observers and Western diplomats say some of the reports of authorities threatening Twagiramungu supporters are true.

On Saturday, police arrested a dozen key campaign workers for Twagiramungu, saying the men planned violently to disrupt the election.

Twagiramungu, a Hutu, denied the men were involved in any plot.

He virtually shut down his campaign in recent days after accusing authorities of threatening his supporters and seeking to discredit him with accusations that he has tied to stir up ethnic tensions to draw votes from Kagame.

Twagiramungu was a voice of moderation before the genocide, which he narrowly escaped.

But Kagame has continued campaigning, repeatedly calling on Rwandans to think as themselves as one people and not dwell on the divisions that led to the genocide.

A third candidate, Alivera Mukabaramba, withdrew from the race Sunday and called on her supporters to vote for Kagame, said Christian Marara, a spokesman.

A fourth candidate, Jean-Nepomuscene Nayinzira, has not campaigned.

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