Diane Rwigara, an outspoken critic of Rwandan President Kagame, has been barred from running in next month’s presidential elections.
Just Mr Kagame and two other politicians – Frank Habineza of the Green Democratic Party and independent Philippe Mpayimana – were cleared by the electoral body.
Rwigara, who was also disqualified from the 2017 vote, took to X, formerly Twitter, to express her disappointment to Mr Kagame.
“Why don’t you let me run? This is the second time you [have] betray[ed] I was out of my right to campaign,” she said.
The 42-year-old, who is leader of the Popular Salvation Movement (PSM), had previously told the BBC’s Newsday program that she hoped she could hold out this time.
“I represent the vast majority of Rwandans who live in fear and cannot be free in their own country,” she said.
“Rwanda is portrayed as a country where the economy has been growing. But on the ground it’s different. People lack the basics of life, food, water, shelter.”
But in releasing its provisional list of candidates, the electoral commission said Ms Rwigara had not provided the correct documentation to demonstrate that she had no criminal record.
It also said she was unable to demonstrate that she had enough support across the country to run.
“On the requirement of 600 signatures, she failed to provide at least 12 signatures from eight districts,” said Oda Gasinzigwa, head of the electoral commission.
Another reason given by the commission was that Ms Rwigara was unable to prove that she was Rwandan by birth. She once held Belgian citizenship but renounced it in 2017, before her last attempt to become a candidate.
But Ms Rwigara told the BBC she was born in Rwanda and rejected all other reasons for rejecting her candidacy.
A total of nine candidacies to run for president have been received by the National Electoral Commission of Rwanda. The final list will be announced next Friday, as it still takes into account appeals lodged earlier in the process – although at this stage it is too late for the PSM leader to appeal.
In 2017, she was barred after accusations of forging signatures from supporters of her candidacy.
Mrs Rwigara was imprisoned for more than a year, but acquitted in 2018 on charges of incitement of insurrection and forgery. She said the accusations were politically motivated.
In March, a Rwandan court blocked efforts by prominent opposition figure Victoire Ingabire to lift the ban about his candidacy for the presidential elections.
She was released in 2018 after spending eight years in prison for threatening state security and “belittling” the 1994 genocide.
In Rwanda, people who have been imprisoned for more than six months are prevented from running in elections.
The two successful candidates – Mr Habineza and Mr Mpayimana – were also the only successful candidates to run against Mr Kagame in the 2017 elections.
Kagame is running for a fourth term, who could extend his presidency for almost three decades he should win.
He won the last presidential election in 2017 with almost 99% of the vote.
The 66-year-old president has faced criticism from rights groups for cracking down on the opposition.
But he has always fiercely defended Rwanda’s human rights record, saying his country respects political freedoms.
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