Campaigns have officially started in Rwanda ahead of July 15 presidential and legislative elections.
The official campaign period runs from June 22 to July 13.
Three presidential candidates, including the incumbent Paul Kagame of the Rwanda Patriotic Front party (RPF), were cleared by Rwanda's electoral commission to vie in the upcoming polls.
Frank Habineza of the Democratic Green Party and independent candidate Philippe Mpayimana are the other presidential candidates.
Diane Rwigara locked out
President Kagame's vocal critic Diane Rwigara was among six candidates locked out by the electoral commission for failing to meet the minimum requirements.
A total of nine aspirants had submitted their presidential bids to the electoral commission by deadline day on May 30.
Parliamentary elections will also be held on July 15.
Some 589 candidates have been cleared to run for membership of the Chamber of Deputies, which has a total composition of 80.
More than 9 million voters
Fifty-three of them are directly voted for by the people, 24 women are elected by regional councils, while two are chosen by the National Youth Council, and one by the Association of the Disabled.
Rwanda's electoral commission said in mid-May that approximately 9.5 million people have registered to vote in this year's elections.
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