Rwandan prominent opposition politician, Victoire Ingabire says a court has barred her from contesting July’s presidential election.
Ingabire was hoping to seek for the highest political office in Rwanda but that won’t happen anymore, she said.
She has condemned the court ruling, which she describes as politically motivated.
“The refusal of my rehabilitation is not merely a personal attack but is emblematic of the broader issues facing our nation, issues that human rights organisations and development partners of Rwanda have long criticised,” she said on X.
Outside court in the capital, Kigali, the 55-year-old politician expressed displeasure at the judicial process.
“I don’t agree with what the judge said, and unfortunately you can’t appeal before two years.
“We are still far from a law-abiding country.”
Ingabire was only freed from prison in 2018 after spending eight years in there for threatening state security and “belittling” the 1994 genocide.
In 2010, she returned from exile in the Netherlands to take part in the presidential election that year.
She is an outspoken critic of President Paul Kagame, who has ruled Rwanda thirty years now.
He won the 2017 election and before then won in 2003, 2010 and 2017 with more than 90% of the votes in the presidential election.
With changes to Rwanda’s constitution he could potentially stay in power for another decade.
Kagame, 66, has always defended his track record and his regime despite criticisms from rights groups, who accuse him of cracking down on the opposition.
Source: Africafeeds.com
