Rwanda court upholds election ban on President Paul Kagame critic

Due to prior convictions for terrorism and denial of the genocide, a Rwandan court ruled on Wednesday that opposition leader and dissident Victoire Ingabire is ineligible to compete in the July presidential election.

An outspoken opponent of Paul Kagame, the longtime leader of Rwanda, Ingabire served eight years in prison before her 15-year sentence was shortened in 2018 by a presidential pardon.

Although it is against the law for convicted candidates who have served more than six months in jail to run in the July 15 elections, she had sought the Kigali High Court to grant her permission to do so.

“The court finds that Ingabire’s request to have her conviction removed is not accepted,” a judge said, reading out the decision.

“I disagree with this ruling. It is clearly politicised. We still have a country where the courts are still not independent,” Ingabire told AFP after the court decision.

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Rwandan law states that she has two years from the date of the verdict to file an appeal.

It is generally anticipated that the elections would bring Kagame back to government for a fourth seven-year term. This is because he oversaw contentious constitutional reforms that could extend his potential to rule until 2034.

With more than 90% of the vote in the presidential elections held in 2003, 2010, and 2017, the 66-year-old has ruled the landlocked African country for decades.

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Frank Habineza, chairman of the Green Party, is Kagame’s lone known opponent in the July polls. Habineza received 0.45 percent of the vote in 2017. The Rwandan Patriotic Front, in power, is backed by all other opposition parties that are duly registered.

Rwanda does not formally recognize Ingabire’s Dalfa Umurunzi (Development And Liberty For All) movement.

Ingabire, a 55-year-old ethnic Hutu, was charged with “divisionism” after he openly questioned the official account of the 800,000-person Tutsi genocide that occurred in 1994.

Although Kagame is credited with stabilizing the African country, his administration has come under fire for its appalling record on human rights.

In a statement published on social media after Wednesday’s verdict, Ingabire said the ruling “is not merely a personal setback but is emblematic of the broader issues facing our nation”.

“Today’s decision is a stark reminder of the barriers to political participation and the urgent need for reform in our country’s governance.”

The Rwandan president is frequently accused by Ingabire of stifling opposition and ignoring the underprivileged.

She had informed reporters that she was released from prison in 2018 as a result of international pressure on Rwanda’s government. This prompted Kagame to issue a warning, saying, “Do not be shocked if you go back to prison.”

Over the past few years, a number of opposition lawmakers have vanished or died under suspicious circumstances.

September 2019, a member of FDU-Inkingi, the old party of Ingabire, was stabbed close to Kigali, the city. This occurred six months after Anselm Mutuyimana, the party’s spokesman, was abducted and his death was subsequently discovered in a jungle.

Ingabire, who has been in the Netherlands since 1994, decided to run for president of Rwanda in 2010 as the head of the FDU-Inkingi.

However, she was taken into custody after advocating for the prosecution and punishment of those who commit crimes against the Hutu majority.