Your source for credible news Issue no 001
July, 2020
US investigation blames Rutabana’s disappearance on CMI and Nyamwasa
NEWS
CMI abducts 36 RNC members in Uganda for abandoning Nyamwasa Page 4
OP-ED
Uganda’s shifting of goal posts shows lack of goodwill to Page 7 end crisis.
PROFILE RNC fugitive Kayumba Nyamwasa (left), Ben Rutabana, and CMI head Abel Kandiho.
An investigation conducted by an American NGO, Relief and Human Rights Initiative (IRHRI), has revealed that vanished RNC bigwig Ben Rutabana is detained by UganPage 2 da’s Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI). Torture victim thankful for life back home
Ugandan smuggler arrested in Rwanda
Two years down the road, Emmanuel Cyemayire – one of the many victims of torture and other abuse at the hands of Ugandan security services – is still recovering back home in Rwanda. Page 8
A Ugandan called Leevi Byomuhangi whom Kampala media like the Commandpost website have been claiming was “kidnapped by Rwanda” is in custody following arrest for attempting to smuggle into Rwanda. Page 3
PROFILE: Noble Marara, the insolent fugitive www.virungapost.com
Page 10
Ntwali, Nyamwasa’s brother-in-law that has risen within RNC courtesy of nepotism. Page 11
REGIONAL
Write our debts off or we default!, Uganda to international lenders. Page 13
CARTOON
Issue no 001 July 2020
News
2
American investigation blames Rutabana’s disappearance on CMI and Nyamwasa By Melodie Mukansonera
An investigation conducted by an American NGO, Relief and Human Rights Initiative (IRHRI), has revealed that vanished RNC bigwig Ben Rutabana is detained by Uganda’s Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI). According to observers, this development confirms recent reports that Rwanda National Congress boss Kayumba Nyamwasa connived with CMI head Maj. Gen. Abel Kandiho to abduct Rutabana after falling out with him. Until his disappearance in September last year, Rutabana was a senior member of the RNC terror outfit as its “Commissioner for Capacity Development”. His disappearance after landing at Entebbe Airport in Uganda in September last year caused alarm and panic in his family. His wife Diane together with several family members then issued a letter and posted it on the Internet detailing that Rutabana had disappeared in Uganda. They were emphatic that “RNC leadership completely was responsible.” A report of the investigation posted by IRHRI reveals in detail the circumstances surrounding Rutabana’s disappearance, and also confirms how Nyamwasa is in constant contact with top Ugandan military personnel like Maj. Gen Kandiho on the matter. “IRHRI received a complaint pertaining Rutabana from his family for assistance in locating him after he went missing in September,2019,” the report reads in part. “IRHRI immediately launched an investigation into the matter and was able to estab-
lish that Rutabana flew to Uganda on September 8, 2019 on passport number 16DA52086. IRHRI also learnt that upon arrival in Uganda, he was arrested and held at CMI offices in Mbuya and later at Internal Security Organisation (ISO) for interrogation to establish the purpose of his visit to Uganda,” continues the report.
following heavy military routs. The militias were crushed in the Congolese jungles mid last year and those that were captured were handed over to Rwanda to stand trial for their terrorist crimes. Greg Smith Heavens, the president of IRHRI, told journalists over the weekend that the people handling Rutabana are “very powerful”, to the extent that “they threatened my organization.”
RNC fugitive Kayumba Nyamwasa (left), Ben Rutabana, and CMI head Abel Kandiho.
In October last year, Rutabana’s wife told BBC and VoA that her husband had told her that he feared for his life after falling out with RNC’s top leadership, including Nyamwasa and Frank Ntwali, the brother in law of Nyamwasa. By then, it was alleged that their quarrels and wrangles were related to money, and power struggles – a fact that IRHRI’s investigation reiterates. “These people have personal interests they are pursuing,” IRHRI says. “Rutabana’s arrest was caused by misunderstandings between him and Nyamwasa and some other colleagues in RNC.” It was said Rutabana’s misunderstandings with Nyamwasa worsened after the deaths of several RNC militias that had been recruited in Uganda and taken to RNC camps in DRC for training
He said: “the same people threatened some family members and leaders of the IRHRI,saying that if we did not stop following up the case they would influence the closure of our organization’s offices in Uganda,” reads part Heavens’ statement. Meanwhile, Rutabana’s case unearthed the “pervasive infighting” within Ugandan security organs. Observers point to how the likes of CMI and ISO keep blaming each other on who is holding Rutabana. Maj. Gen. Kandiho told the American NGO that his institution was not holding Rutabana, and then pointed the finger of accusation at ISO. “Try to engage any other official who will respond like me and revert to me if you will ever get one,” Kandiho is quoted
www.virungapost.com
saying to IRHRI investigators. “I know they’ve been trying to destroy one of my officers, Col. (now Brig.) CK. Asiimwe. Hope it’s not someone called Odong from ISO who gave you the information, if I am not mistaken?” added Kandiho. Despite his denials, Kandiho hinted on having some knowledge about Rutabana with the remark that, “I think Rutabana was tricked.” The IRHRI report concludes that Rutabana was not arrested “on open and direct order”, but that “his arrest is an arrangement between Nyamwasa’s group and individual state security (actors) that made him be where he is currently.”
Rutabana’s case unearthed the “pervasive infighting” within Ugandan security organs.
Issue no 001 July 2020
Ugandan smuggler arrested in Rwanda as Kampala media falsely claim “kidnap”
News
3
of kidnap are the usual hostile Ugandan propaganda,” one of our sources said with emphasis, adding: “he will soon be charged and details of his crimes become public.” Rwandan authorities have been advising anyone wanting to do business or trade to do it legitimately, through recognized border points, and in broad daylight. “That is the only solution, because law-breaking will never be tolerated in Rwanda,” Rwandan officials emphasize.
Leevi Byamuhangi, a Uganda that was arrested for smuggling dangerous substances into Rwanda is now in Covid-19 isolation.
By Jean Gatera
A Ugandan called Leevi Byomuhangi – whom Kampala media like the Commandpost website have been claiming was “kidnapped by Rwanda” – is in custody following arrest for attempting to smuggle into Rwanda 27 litres of Kanyanga (what they call “waragi” in Uganda), also classified an illegal drug in Rwanda. “No one kidnapped Leevi Byomuhangi,” a Rwandan border official told this website. “This man broke the law first by entering Rwanda through an illegal path; secondly, he was smuggling; and thirdly, he was smuggling a dangerous substance,” the official said. Byomuhangi was arrested yesterday, Saturday 11, in
Rubaya, Gicumbi Sector in the Northern Province on the border with Uganda, transporting illegal brew – 20 litres in a jerrycan and 7 in plastic sachets. He was also carrying composite flour (an ingredient in the manufacture of ikigage, another illegal intoxicant), 10 kilograms of maize flour, cooking oil, and salt. Ugandan media, “as they always do when their citizens engage into criminality, have chosen to publish a very misleading story,” a second Rwandan official remarked.Far from being “kidnapped”, it has been revealed that Byomuhangi was taken to an isolation facility in Byumba – in line with Covid-19 precautions – but will be
Belgium-based Jambo ASBL’s protests conceal panic following Macron letter to Kigali, sources.
fight against impunity, reports are that Europe-based genocidaires are in the highest panic since the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi. “As a result they have multiplied their public relations stunts, with open letters, demonstrations and other propaganda,” a Diaspora source told Virunga Post.
By Jean Gatera Following the arrest of long-time genocide fugitive Felicien Kabuga, and the recent letter of French President Emmanuel Macron to Rwanda in which he expressed commitment in the
In May this year when Kabuga, also known as the chief financier of the Genocide, was arrested in Paris all of a sudden the likes of Agathe Kanziga Habyarimana and several others such as
Continue to Page 5 >>
handed over to law enforcement authorities afterwards. CommandPost, one of the several websites that have been exposed as existing solely as vessels of Kampala’s anti-Rwanda propaganda and misinformation campaign, did not disclose any of the facts that came to light about Byomuhangi’s smuggling activities. Comandpost, which is one of the several websites under the control of Ugandan Military Intelligence (CMI), published claims that Byomuhangi – of Katuna Town Council in Kabale District – was “kidnapped from his garden.” “That is simply provocative lying; Byomuhangi, was arrested in Rwanda and the claims
Rwandan authorities are also extra-vigilant about Illegal border crossings to Uganda as these “panya” routes have been used by infiltrators, or militias of rebel groups working to destabilize the security of Rwanda. As recently as October last year, militias of the RUD-Urunana rebel group perpetrated a terror attack in Kinigi, killing 14 civilians before Rwandan security put them out of action. The four that managed to escape used the same illegal crossings, to vanish into Uganda. Rwandan security authorities say anyone imagining they can use such paths – whether to enter to perpetrate terror, or to smuggle – are “seriously deceiving themselves.” “Rwanda will never compromise on its security!” the authorities have repeatedly stressed.
Are the days of genocide perpetrators in Europe numbered? Recently arrested: Felicien Kabuga, left Still at large: Agather Habyarimana.
www.virungapost.com
Issue no 001 July 2020
News
4
CMI abducts 36 RNC members in Uganda for abandoning Nyamwasa
After former RNC bigwig Jean Paul Turayishimye (center) defected with others to form a new group, his former boss Kayumba Nyamwasa (left) is working with Uganda CMI to silence Turayishimye’s recruits in Uganda. Right is Nyamwasa’s friend, CMI’s Maj. Gen. Abel Kandiho.
By Moses Gisa
News reaching Virunga Post indicates that Uganda’s Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence has struck against supporters of a new group that is trying to take members away from Kayumba Nyamwasa and his RNC. Thirty-six members of the newly established anti-Rwanda outfit, the Ottawa-based Rwanda Alliance for Change – widely described as “just another armchair terror group” have been arrested in Uganda. This happened on 12 June 2020 when members of Uganda Police rounded up the individuals in Nama, Mityana District, and transferred them to the dreaded Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI). The new group in Ottawa is made up of former Rwanda National Congress (RNC) members that have defected from the Kayumba Nyamwasa-led group during what is being described as “a time of great unraveling within the group.” RAC, the new armchair terrorist group, according to reports, has been started by former RNC “chief of intelligence”, Jean Paul
Turayishimye, as well as other defected RNC members like Benoit Umuhoza (formerly of “RNC France Province”), among others. This website has learnt that “things have become so bad for Nyamwasa’s leadership of RNC in Uganda that his former staunch ally, ‘Pastor’ Deo Nyirigira of AGAPE Church in Mbarara, also until very recently ‘chairman’ RNC Uganda Province’ has abandoned him.” Nyirigira, known most notoriously as someone that has betrayed so many innocent Banyarwanda in western Uganda to CMI for arrest and illegal detention on concocted charges of “spying for Rwanda”, reportedly has turned against Nyamwasa. Nyirigira too has defected from Nyamwasa and become a supporter of RAC, according to very reliable sources. “He has been persuading RNC members to abandon Nyamwasa, and join RAC,” according to our sources. Recent news reports indicate that Nyirigira is “very bitter that Nyamwasa lured his daughter Jackie Umuhoza, who lives in Kigali, to join RNC activities
without informing him.” According to these reports, when Rwandan security authorities arrested Umuhoza on suspicion of terrorism, due her RNC activities – a group that between 2010 and 2014 perpetrated grenade attacks in Rwanda that killed 17 people and injured 400 others – that’s when Nyirigira turned. Now he is working actively against Nyamwasa. Among the newly arrested supporters of RAC are Abubakar Musabyimana, Kagabo, Muhamud, and Kagaba that were appointed to head RAC in the Nakivale Refugee Camp. Others include Said and Vuguziga that were supposed to oversee activities at Rwamwanja. Gatete, alias Asiimwe, Abel and Sulaiman Montari were to represent the armchair group’s interests in Kakumiro, while Ismael Mugarura was posted at Kyaka camp. One of the arrestees, John Ndinazo is said to be a close ally of Nyirigira. According to reliable sources in Uganda, Ndinazo and others were summoned by Nyirigira for briefing on the new modus
www.virungapost.com
operandi of conducting recruitment and mobilization in Nakivale, Kyaka, and Rwamwanja refugee camps. But then Nyirigira didn’t show up for the meeting, sending a representative instead. “He must have sensed danger,” a source disclosed. That is when CMI pounced, rounding up all members of the gathering. Reports indicate that CMI operatives are now hunting down RNC members affiliated with Nyirigira and Turayishimye. Nyamwasa is believed to have been in touch with CMI head Maj. Gen. Abel Kandiho, to arrest – meaning abduct – and torture any defector. “Rwandans in refugee camps are now living under fear of CMI brutal operations,” said a scared source. Before wholesale defections from RNC began, its top officials Turayishimye, Thabita Gwiza, Benoit Umuhoza, Nyirigira, and others accused Nyamwasa of running the group as if it is “his personal kiosk.”
Issue no 001 July 2020
News
5
Following President Kagame’s words on new Burundian leadership, some are ready to hope By Jean Gatera In a live Instagram interactive conversation last Friday, President Paul Kagame said Rwanda is willing to work with the new Burundian administration to normalize strained relations between the two countries, something that according to analysts, “stirred up hope of improved relations in citizens of both countries,” analysts said. “There is history that led to the bad relations between our two sister countries but we are ready to work with President Évariste Ndayishimiye of Burundi to address those issues,” President Kagame said. This followed an
interview earlier this month in the influential Jeune Afrique magazine with the head of State when the latter also mentioned that “Rwanda would seek to normalize relations with Burundi.” In the interview President Kagame said, “a new President is often an occasion for a new beginning.” Burundi swore in its new head of state Maj. Gen. Evariste Ndayishimiye, and a new government last month on the 18th of June 2020. During the handover ceremony in Burundi’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs building, the new president indicated that Burundi would strive “to restore its diplomatic relations to a pre-2015 era.”
Aftermath of a past FLN attack in Nyaruguru by militias that fled back to Burundi.
from page 3>> Wenceslas Munyeshyaka Eugene Rwamucyo, Claude Muhayimana and other France based fugitives “were not sleeping easy at all,” said our source. In his 4th July letter, Macron congratulated Rwanda for its 26th liberation anniversary, and announced that France will continue to track down and arrest genocide fugitives. Since then Jambo ASBL, a front used by the offspring of Western-based genocidaires, has since drummed up its anti-Rwanda propaganda. An international relations analyst explained: “the new French foreign policy is a direct threat to the genocidaires parents of those behind J Jambo ASBL. They first paid Rudasingwa, a conman, to write a letter on
behalf of the fugitives, and now they are organizing a demonstration in Brussels.” According to observers, the demonstration – poorly attended event that took place in the Belgian capital – sought to sanitize Victoire Ingabire. “The calculation behind this was to try to draw attention away from the Europe-based fugitives, while attempting to focus attention on Rwanda with the long-standing false claims that the “democratic rights” of Ingabire are “being abused in Kigali.” Ingabire, who in 2018 got an early release from prison following years of letters pleading to President Kagame for clemency after conviction for high crimes, including genocide denialism, has since resumed her involvement in terrorist groups bent on destabilizing Rwanda’s
In 2015, Burundi’s foreign relations suffered following a chaotic period with scenes of violence and mass death after former president Pierre Nkurunziza announced “seemingly out of the blue” according to the many Burundians that were opposed to him, to award himself another term in office. “Nkurunziza then pursued an isolationist policy following the 2015 upheavals”, analysts observe. “For some strange reason Nkurunziza then began to blame Burundi’s bad situation on Rwanda, when Rwanda had never advised him to go against his own country’s laws for his power grab,” observers remarked. Reports kept showing that Nkurunziza’s provoked fallout with Rwanda became more serious, and it escalated when Anti-Rwandan terrorist militias began to operate from the Burundian territory. Various sources, including a UN Group of Experts Report of December 2018, show that Bujumbura was the focal point of an anti-Rwanda operation supporting armed rebel groups like RNC, FDLR and others bent of destabilizing the security of Rwanda. Testimony by captured members security. Ingabire was involved in the creation of groups such as Alir that later became FDLR – made up of Ex FAR and Interahamwe militias – and the documents are there to prove it. Certain elements of international media, and others whose agenda is to revive the ideology of genocide in Rwanda, however, have battled to whitewash Victoire Ingabire’s image, as Rwandan social media has been pointing out. Now Jambo ASBL, a forum of genocide deniers and revisionists, is using Ingabire for its propaganda, pushing the falsehood that Rwanda is “persecuting an innocent activist!” “In actual sense they have been badly panicked by the Kabuga arrest, and the Macron letter and they are clutching at every straw to
www.virungapost.com
of the rebel groups, such as Habib Mudathiru of RNC, or FLN’s Callixte Nsabimana confirmed Bujumbura’s active support of the anti-Rwanda coalitions or proxies when the deceased Nkurunziza was head of state. More recently more damning evidence of Burundi being a hotbed of anti-Rwanda rebel activity has re-surfaced with the recent attack of armed militias from Nyungwe, originating from Burundi’s Cibitoke Province.
The new president indicated that Burundi would strive “to restore its diplomatic relations to a pre-2015 era.” “When Rwandan forces repulsed the attackers, they retreated back to Burundi,” said an RDF stement. Others, however, are ready to be more optimistic. “With political good will, such as the one the Rwandan president is showing, the situation can change quickly, even in the presence of militias and warmongers,” said a Kigali-based Burundian analyst. “DR Congo is a good example; we saw a complete U-turn and a normalization of bilateral relations with a new leadership,” he said. save the day!” several accounts of Rwandans on Twitter observe. Jambo ASBL’s membership of the offspring of top fugitives begins with its “president”, Robert Mugabowindekwe. He is the son of fugitive Ephrem Rwabarinda, a colonel in the ex FAR who fled to France following the defeat of the genocidal regime. Rwabarinda’s role in the genocide as a senior military officer is well documented. “Rwabarinda was in the meetings preparing the Genocide against Tutsis as early as in 1991,” court documents, all the way down to Gacaca court documents, show. Mugabowindekwe is just one of a core that operates from Belgium.
Issue no 001 July 2020
News
6
CARTOON OF THE WEEK
Nyamwasa claims to sack Turayishimiye, even as he loses control over RNC By Moses Gisa A recent claim by Kayumba Nyamwasa that he has fired his longtime right-hand man Jean Paul Turayishimiye from RNC has only served to highlight lack of control over his own terror group, observers say. The “firing” was communicated in a letter dated June 18, 2020, signed by Edouard Kabagema, the group’s in charge of discipline, Gervais Condo, RNC Secretary-General, Etienne Mutabazi, and Richard Niwenshuti, heads of RNC-America Province. Nyamwasa claimed to sack Turayishimiye “to show his opponents that he still has influence and power over RNC”, but instead his move has managed “to sow further doubts over Nyamwasa’s control,” according to our sources. They point to the fact that Turayishimye quit RNC long before Nyamwasa’s supposed firing. In a letter dated October 24, 2019, Turayishimiye said he had resigned from his position as head of intelligence,
and as the group’s spokesperson. From that time he has been working on establishing some other group known as “Iteme”. RNC has been roiled by internal wrangles ever since members of the terrorist group started pinning Nyamwasa for the disappearance of Ben Rutabana. Those that follow closely the dynamics within the group see the latest developments as part of a pattern of decline. “What has been happening in RNC is the outcome of impunity, greed, thirst for power, corruption, nepotism, as well as tribalism in the group’s top leaders,” analysts say. Turayishimiye, when he announced his resignation, cited among other things “RNC’s failure to produce Rutabana,” the former commissioner for capacity building and took Nyamwasa to task for the disappearance. Nyamwasa then dismissed Turayishimiye’s claims while “trying to shape a counter-narrative about Rutabana, that convinced no one.” Turayishimiye went to various talk
shows exposing Nyamwasa, which resulted in more defections from Nyamwasa, according to developments in the group. The wrangles between the two escalated as more RNC senior members asked Nyamwasa to set up an investigative committee on the disappearance of Rutabana. The committee was to come up with answers; however, it (the committee) just vanished into thin air without presenting any findings,” laughed our source. Turayishimiye then teamed up with other members, Leah Karegeya a “senior adviser”, Tabitha Gwiza and Simeon Ndwaniye, Rutabana’s sister and cousin respectively. They mounted pressure on Nyamwasa to produce Rutabana “dead or alive, or resign from his position!” Gwiza and Ndwaniye were both members of the “RNC Canada Province” committee, who had been voicing disagreements with Nyamwasa “over his greed, and his corrupt rule.” They accused him of embezzling RNC resourc-
www.virungapost.com
es to invest into personal business ventures, such as transportation in Mozambique and supermarkets in South Africa. They too, like Turayishimiye, accused Nyamwasa of favoritism, corruption and nepotism. Turayishimiye and Leah Karegeya resigned on December 30, 2019. Before then, Gwiza and Ndwaniye too had quit, on December 8, 2019 while Benoit Muhoza, the former leader of “RNC France Province” too was out. All these in addition to Turayishimye are some of the RNC “big fish” to have so far quit the group. This website has exclusively learnt of an ongoing plan to form a new faction within RNC, with a primary objective of ousting Nyamwasa’s camp. “RNC will soon remain only with Nyamwasa, his brother in law Frank Ntwari, his unstable cousin Rugema Kayumba, and maybe his wife and children,” another former member of the terror group wrote on social media.
Issue no 001 July 2020
OP-ED
7
Uganda’s shifting of goal posts shows lack of goodwill to end crisis By Jackson Mutabazi Early this month on June 4, 2020, the 4th Adhoc Committee meeting established to monitor progress on the Luanda MoU aimed at normalizing relations between Uganda and Rwanda, took place by video conference. As had happened when the committee met in Munyonyo, Kampala, on December 13, 2019, the meeting ended without agreement on a joint communique. The two countries could not agree on two key points. The main reason for the failure of the Munyonyo meeting to agree on a communique was Uganda’s insistence that a joint verification mechanism be created to verify Rwanda’s allegations against it. Rwanda insisted the Ad hoc Committee was created to carry out that very purpose: to verify the grievances and to monitor progress in implementing resolutions from the summits of heads of state of the two countries, facilitated by Angola and the DRC.
Rwanda-Uganda delegations during the virtual Adhoc commission meeting.
Since August 21, 2019, when the heads of state signed the MoU as a roadmap for ending the crisis between the two countries, much progress has been registered. For instance, only months earlier on March 5, 2019, Uganda’s foreign minister, Sam Kutesa, had stonewalled, dismissing Rwanda’s grievances. In his press conference, Kutesa had said, “it is false that Uganda hosts any elements fighting Rwanda …Uganda does not and cannot allow anyone to operate from its territory that threatens a neighbor as alleged.” He also dismissed reports from Rwandans missing their loved ones who were languishing in Uganda’s detention facilities, many for months and years without ever being presented to court or their consular representatives and legal counsel ever being given access to them: “It is not true Uganda arrests, tortures, and harrases Rwandans,” Kutesa wrote.
For instance, it has reported to Rwanda that it has withdrawn the passport of RNC’s “chief of diplomacy”, Charlotte Mukankusi, and that it has deregistered the Self Worth Initiative (SWI) – an RNC mobilizing outfit – mainly in Banyarwanda communities, especially around refugee camps – run by its Kampala-based operatives, Sulah Nuwamanya and Prossy Bonabana.
There is progress because Uganda no longer denies Rwanda’s key grievances.
All this progress was made without needing to create a joint verification mechanism. Further,
Contrary to Kutesa’s initial denials, Kampala has also been releasing hundreds of Rwandans – in batches – who were illegally detained in Uganda, the most recent being two groups of Rwandans totaling 130, sent home only days after the 4th Adhoc Committee meeting, with the first arriving on June 8. When announcing the impending release, Kutesa also acknowledged that his country is still holding another 310 Rwandans, still without access to consular services or legal counsel.
Uganda did not demand for a joint verification mechanism when it was still denying Rwanda’s accusations, which is when it would have made sense to create. It is surprising, therefore, that it is demanding one when it has now de facto admitted to these charges and is in fact implementing decisions related to them. Uganda’s action is proof there is no need for a joint verification mechanism. By bringing up the joint verification proposal, however, Uganda is merely stalling and buying time to avoid implementing two points of the 21 February Final Communiqué of the 4th Quadripartite Summit Gatuna/Katuna, which provides as follows: Article 4: “The Summit recommended that the Republic of Uganda should, within one month, verify the allegation of the Republic of Rwanda about action from its territory by forces hostile to the Government of Rwanda. If these allegations are proved, the Ugandan Government will take all measures to stop it, and
www.virungapost.com
prevent it from happening again. This action must be verified and confirmed by the Ad-Hoc Ministerial Commission for the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding of Luanda.” Article 5: “Once this recommendation is fulfilled and reported to the Heads of State, the facilitators will convene within 15 days, a Summit in Gatuna/Katuna for the solemn reopening of borders and subsequent normalisation of the relations between two countries.” Interestingly, at this month’s virtual Ad-hoc committee meeting on June 4, Uganda’s delegation demanded that the Gatuna border be opened regardless of whether they had satisfied the above conditions, which is as bizarre as their demand for a joint verification team. These are clearly diversionary efforts that show that the absence of any spirit of goodwill and commitment to end the crisis on Uganda’s part.
Issue no 001 July 2020
SPECIAL REPORTS
83
Torture victim Cyemayire thankful for life back home after escaping death in Uganda Mushambo, head of Counterintelligence, UPDF Second Division Mbarara, was one of his interrogators. Cyemayire discloses that Mushambo showed him two documents, one of them a statement by Deo Nyirigira, accusing him of being an “agent of Kagame.” Following an interrogation that was punctuated by beatings, Cyemayire was transferred to Mbuya military Barracks in Kampala, headquarters of CMI. All that time no one knew where he was – family members, or friends. He had long exceeded the legal time period of 48 hours to either be taken to a court, or be released with no charges. But neither did his abductors notify the Rwandan High Commission that he was in custody, as per international laws.
Emmanuel Cyemayire, CMI torture victim recounts his ordeal during illegal detention in Uganda
By Patience Kirabo Two years down the road, Emmanuel Cyemayire – one of the many victims of torture and other abuse at the hands of Ugandan security services – is still recovering back home in Rwanda. Cyemayire who at one time thought he would never leave Uganda alive after he was abducted and illegally detained, profusely thanks the government of Rwanda for the efforts that got him back home. He is equally thankful with the help he has gotten as he set about building a grocery store, to get on with life.
call “RNC Uganda province” – was charged with identifying Rwandans in the Mbarara area that refused to join, or support RNC. “Any Munyarwanda that Nyirigira had a beef with; anyone that refused to join in traitorous activities against Rwanda by pledging support to RNC was likely to be in danger,” Cyemayire says. Reports have long indicated that Nyirigira works hand in hand with Uganda’s Chieftancy of Military Intelligence, CMI, and he has given many Rwandans over to them.
Cyemayire, who since 2013 ran a business in the Ugandan town of Mbarara, was arbitrarily arrested in early 2018 by CMI operatives. That, he says, was on the direct instructions of Pastor Deo Nyirigira – a well-known agent of Kayumba Nyamwasa’s Rwanda National Congress (RNC) – among whose businesses is a church, AGAPE.
Cyemayire’s tribulations began when Nyirigira, and a few others of his henchmen, found out that he (Cyemayire) was encouraging members of Rwandan communities in western Uganda to participate in the Rwandan Presidential Elections of August 2017. For his part, “Nyirigira was openly sensitizing his congregation, which mostly was of Banyarwanda, not to participate in the elections,” Cyemayire says.
Among the many things Nyirigira – who is “Chairman” of what they
Still, Cyemayire and a few others persisted in what they saw as a
very important duty to their country – to vote in the elections at the Rwandan High Commission in Kampala – “despite dire threats from Nyirigira’s group,” he added. After the elections were done, Cyemayire says Nyirigira intensified his harassment with insults and threats. “I am sure it is him that set CMI agents on me,” he says. Then on 4th January (2018) the CMI men – who did not identify themselves, meaning he only found out later when he was in the dungeons – accosted Cyemayire from his home. “They were a number of them and they manhandled me very badly,” he recalls. They bundled him into a pickup vehicle and put blindfolds on him. They were headed to Mbarara’s Makenke Barracks. Going by the many reports of the behavior of CMI agents, which was a typical operation of arbitrary arrest (no arrest warrants, or any chance for the victim to talk to a lawyer), followed by illegal detention, incommunicado. Cyemayire says that while in Makenke Barracks, Maj. Fred
www.virungapost.com
“I was suffering; I was a victim of Ugandan and RNC enmities against Rwanda that I knew nothing about!” remarks Cyemayire. He says that at CMI, “I suffered for several days with he blindfolds on, my arms and legs chained on the stairway, and I was beaten every single day resulting in severe backaches.” When they finally decided to throw him out of Uganda, he left behind an electronics business and properties in Mbarara. Despite losing everything, one thing Cyemayire is thankful for is the peaceful life back home. “I am thankful that I don’t have to live in fear, worried that I am on Pastor Deo Nyirigira’s watch list”. Cyemayire is considering legal recourse against Uganda, to get compensation for his lost property. A number of Rwandan victims, through their lawyer Richard Mugisha of Trust Law Chambers have been able to petition against the Uganda government at the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) seeking compensation.
Issue no 001 July 2020
SPECIAL REPORTS
93
Mageza’s family in renewed calls to Uganda for repatriation of his remains. By Patience Kirabo The family of the late Emmanuel Mageza, the Rwandan national that lost his mind following a year of torture in the dungeons of Uganda’s Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence, CMI is asking Uganda of only one thing: repatriate his remains for a decent burial. They also want reparations for his brutal killing, but first and foremost they want to bury their family member. Kagoyire Francoise, Mageza’s oldest sibling who now is the head of the family grieves for her brother, like the others, but they haven’t lost hope that one day they will get to bury him home. What gives them such re-assurance is that the Government of Rwanda among other things has made the subject of the repatriation of Mageza a condition for restoration of good relations with Uganda. “I don’t know just how much to thank our government,” says Francoise, a teacher at Kigali Parents School. “The govern-
ment has been there for everyone that has suffered injustice in Uganda, and we believe one day we will get our brother’s body back.” She likens the government to “a strong shoulder that has been there for us to cry on.” Rwanda has demanded that Uganda not only repatriate the body of the late Mageza so that it can be given to his family, but has also demanded an explanation about the circumstances surrounding his death. That was among Kigali’s seven demands in the February Quadripartite Summit of the Luanda MoU that took place at Katuna/Gatuna earlier this year. Uganda, however, is yet to provide any explanations. The most painful thing to Mageza’s family is how he died. They learnt that he died following months of torture at the hands of Ugandan security operatives. A chronology of the events leading to Mageza’s death indicates that his fate was sealed when agents of Ugandan Military Intelligence (CMI) in Mbarara pulled
him off his Kampala-bound bus in January 2019. It was an arbitrary arrest, the kind of illegal arrest with which CMI agents have taken so many Rwandans, illegally detained them, followed by torture. And contrary to international conventions, they never notified the Rwandan High Commission in Kampala of the arrest of its citizen. “That is the hallmark of CMI behavior; everything they do is just criminal and lawless,” said one analyst.
Lawyers representing Rwandan victims of such arbitrary arrests have time and again challenged CMI, Internal Security Organization (ISO) and others to desist from “locking people up on concocted charges, then proceeding to hold them for long periods of time, “with no legal procedure,” as Eron Kiiza, one of the attorneys has said many times.
That was the last time the Rwandan national would see the outside world.
Lucky survivors of the torture dungeons of Mbuya – among them the nine Rwandans that Uganda handed over at the beginning of this year – have described the terrible ordeals they suffered, and all remembered Mageza as suffering particularly badly. “After months of beatings, electrocution, or waterboarding Mageza finally lost his mind,” recalled Munyangabe, one of the nine repatriated men.
They never gave him the chance to defend himself on any charges. They never in fact read him any charges, except accusations that “he was a spy”.
When the CMI men realized Mageza was mentally unwell they just took him and dumped him in Butabika Mental Hospital. While there, he passed away.
When they abducted Mageza they took him first to Makenke Military Barracks, then transferred him to the notorious Mbuya Barracks, headquarters of the dreaded CMI.
Late Mageza’s siblings; Kagoyire Francoise and Safari.
www.virungapost.com
Issue no 001 July 2020
PROFILES
10 3
PROFILE: How Noble Marara cut the figure of an undisciplined, insolent fugitive 2010, Marara connived with French judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere to give him false testimonies that led to the latter’s issuance of the infamously fraudulent arrest warrants against Senior RDF Officers. Ruzibiza would later retract his testimony. It came to light that this was due to failure by the Bruguiere team to honor their “monetary pledge” to him.
By Robert Rutoma A pervasive but naïve perception among hostile anti-Rwanda groups leads them to believe that when a Rwandan national who served in the Rwanda Government, RDF or the Presidential protection unit decides to go into self-imposed exile – for whatever reasons – he or she is perceived as an ‘expert on Rwanda’. Noble Marara, an individual frequently heard ranting against the Rwandan leadership on terrorist radio stations, is one such person. These people may be highly sought by hostile online radios, but also western rights organizations to “spill classified information” on Rwanda. However, the anticipated ‘secrets’ invariably turn out to be recycled concoctions that bear no resemblance to reality. That is how Noble Marara became a frequent guest on anti-Rwanda online radio platforms like Itahuka, Ikondera and similar ones created just to mudsling Rwanda. People like Noble Marara are often considered ‘heroes’ for the wrong perception that they are privy to Rwanda ‘state secrets’ because they worked from ‘the inside’ before they went into exile. Marara also runs Inyenyeri News, another anti-Rwanda online publication dedicated to smearing and tarnishing the image of Rwanda, using concocted content. Marara, whom this website is informed was an ordinary driver in the Presidential Protection Unit has been elevated to “stardom” among exiled genocidaires groups, terror suspects, and all types of disgruntled elements living in Western cities. Marara, who is always described as “a naturally slapdash character” by those that know him very well, is among the street-wise characters to have used big words to con their way to some short-lived “fame”. His modus operandi is to hurl as many insults against the Rwandan leadership as can be
Noble Marara
packed into a thirty-minute time frame. Riding on his newly found so-called “stardom”, Marara then allegedly “authored” a book, in which he takes the art of fabrication to new heights. But that is exactly what the hordes of Rwanda haters in the Diaspora like more than anything!, laughed a Diaspora source. But who is this serial offender against the truth?, many have asked. Born in Mbarara, Uganda in 1978, Noble Marara joined the Rwandese Patriotic Army in 1992. Those who worked with him in the High Command during the RPF Rwanda liberation struggle and later the Republican Guard unit disclosed to this website that Marara was a soldier “of ill-discipline and insufferable arrogance” – which saw him spend more time in mabusu (military detention), than he spent working!, according to our source.
dom in 2007, telling the BBC that he knew for certain that, “Presi dent Kagame ordered the shooting down of the plane that carried Juvenal Habyarimana” – a conspiracy theory that has thoroughly been debunked, not only by Rwandan investigators (the Mutsinzi Report), but also by foreigners such as French investigative magistrates Marc Trevidic and Nathalie Poux. But if by “talking big” Marara thought he would gain a lucrative career, he was seriously mistaken. If you go to exile in the West, you get a few minutes “fame”, and that is it. He now lives in the UK as a British resident, benefitting from British tax payers money. For a time he was an active member of Kayumba Nyamwasa’s RNC, but then he began violently abusing RNC.
But rather than reform and change his ways to become a good soldier, on his umpteenth detention, Noble Marara escaped from mabusu and deserted the army.
This website is reliably informed that Marara got married to an English woman. According to sources however, “because she could not tolerate his indiscipline and irresponsible behavior, she opted out of the marriage.” Available information reveals that Marara currently lives in Kent, England where he works in a nursing home for the elderly.
The next time people heard of him, he was in the United King
Alongside people like Abdul Ruzibiza, who died in Norway on
www.virungapost.com
Today, Marara also is “executive secretary” of some briefcase UK-based NGO called “Great Lakes Human Rights Link.” He conceals his bias behind this forum to attack the Rwanda leadership by fabricating stories about human rights violations. He also collaborates with pressure groups like Human Rights Watch (a group that many accuse of being completely lacking in objectivity on Rwanda), Amnesty International, and others. Marara also is said to be in bed with deniers of the Genocide of the Tutsi, and works in close collaboration with the likes of the UK-based René Mugenzi, a well-known devotee of the ideology of genocide. The welcome news for those that love Rwanda is that with Marara, this is more of a person that likes to make noises, but can’t stay on one thing very long. Tomorrow one may hear him violently abusing Mugenzi!
Alongside people like Abdul Ruzibiza, who died in Norway on 2010, Marara connived with French judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere to give him false testimonies that led to the latter’s issuance of the infamously fraudulent arrest warrants against Senior RDF Officers.
Issue no 001 July 2020
PROFILES
11 3
PROFILE: Ntwali, Nyamwasa’s brother-in-law that has risen within RNC courtesy of nepotism Ntwali has been mentioned as crucial in the Uganda-RNC-FDLR Rwanda destabilization triangle. When FDLR spokesperson Ignace Nkaka, best known as La Forge Fils Bazeye, and Jean-Pierre Nsekanabo alias Theophile Abega, the head of intelligence of FDLR were arrested and handed over to Rwanda by Congolese authorities, the men disclosed they had been invited for a meeting by Uganda’s minister for regional cooperation, Philemon Mateke.
Frank Ntwari, product of Nyamwasa’s nepotism.
By Robert Rutoma The mention of the name Frank Ntwali elicits a mixture of emotions from many who know him as one of the kingpins in the RNC. Ntwali is one of the most powerful figures in the terrorist outfit, a status he has achieved because of his nepotistic but also corrupt relation to Kayumba Nyamwasa, the head of the terrorist group. By virtue of being Nyamwasa’s brother-in-law, Ntwali calls the shots in RNC matters – “whatever he says automatically goes,” a source told this website. On paper for instance, one Etienne Mutabazi was supposed to be the coordinator of RNC in Southern Africa. However, Mutabazi is dominated and overshadowed by Frank Ntwali because of the latter’s relation to Kayumba Nyamwasa, according to those in the know. These maneuvers through which Nyamwasa personalizes power within RNC have left many members of the outfit with bitter feelings, to the extent many are just quitting and defecting. Ntwali and Nyamwasa’s other relative Kayumba Rugema have ascend-
ed to the highest strata “even though nothing qualifies them better than anyone else”, according to sources in southern Africa. “The nepotism and favoritism has seriously rocked the RNC boat, opening irreversible cracks,” added the sources. Those who dared to question Nyamwasa’s monarchical tendencies were ostracized, and some hitherto powerful members, namely, Leah Karegeya, Jean Paul Ndayishimiye, Benoit Umuhoza, and others have made an unceremonious exits. Ntwali, as Kayumba Nyamwasa’s most trusted lieutenant, has featured prominently in major RNC operations in the region and he has also been singled out as the face of high-level plotting aimed at destabilizing Rwanda. A frequent visitor to Uganda where he often convenes high-level meetings as a representative of his brother-in-law, Ntwali has been mentioned many times by different people for different reasons. It also has to do with the fact he is a scheming, devious fellow in his own right, according to many that have known this man a long time.
The objective? Mateke had been assigned by his boss the Ugandan ruler to bring FDLR and RNC together “to better coordinate their strategies and plans to destabilize Rwandan security. During the meeting (which took place in Kampala’s ultra-luxurious Serena Hotel on 14 December 2018) it was Ntwali that represented the RNC. The meeting, according to the two, was aimed at brainstorming on how to pool resources “to maximize the effort” against Rwanda’s security. In what has been billed as a sign of the collapse of the RNC, and by extension, the coalition of anti-Rwanda terror forces, Ben Rutabana, the RNC Commissioner for capacity development who traveled to Uganda from Belgium on an RNC mission suddenly went off the radar three days after arrival in Uganda. The disappearance sparked much speculation, and protests within RNC top leadership, exposing already deep fissures among members of the executive committee itself. It has been confirmed by investigations, including one by an American rights organisation International Relief and Human Rights Initiative (IRHRI), that Ben Rutabana is in the hands of CMI at the behest of Kayumba Nyamwasa. Alarmed family members of Rutabana, led by his wife Diane, posted a letter on the Internet that categorically called out Kayumba Nyamwasa and his inner circle. They pointedly
www.virungapost.com
singled out Frank Ntwali for his threatening posture regarding Rutabana even before he lest Belgium, and landed at Entebbe on 05 September 2019. “If you ever step in Uganda, you will be arrested!” Ntwari reportedly threatened Rutabana one time. But what powers did Ntwari have to threaten Rutabana, the latter too a “commissioner” in RNC like Ntwari? Furthermore, if Ntwari could threaten Rutabana with arrest in Uganda, and when it happened the question it raises is one: who is Frank Ntwari in CMI? More broadly, is RNC one and the same as CMI? The answer is an apparent yes. The Mbarara-born Frank Ntwali has worked frequently with CMI to target fellow Rwandan citizens in Uganda. Several victims of torture have pinpointed Ntwari (and Kayumba Rugema) as individuals that speak Kinyarwanda “while supervising torture” in the dungeons of Mbuya Military Barracks – CMI headquarters. On the other hand, Ntwari maintains his ties in western Uganda, where he even has a large herd of cattle – according to reliable sources. Even in South Africa Ntwari had been known to harass innocent Rwandans passing through; and has been known to terrorise selected Rwandans living in South Africa just because they have declined to be recruited as members of the terror group. In Johannesburg he stays at 7742 Gwarrie Close, Amber Field Manor, the Reeds, Centurion. Innocent Banyarwanda are advised not to get too close to that place. He also runs an office in the same estate, at 3510 Berkheya Street, Amber Field Manor, the Reeds, centurion 0157. He travels using different travel documents, including Ugandan Passport number: A 016400.
Issue no 001 July 2020
REGIONAL
12 3
New AfCFTA report shows Africa’s preparedness for trade By Melodie Mukansonera AfroChampions – a private sector partner of the AU – has released a report showing African countries that are ready to trade under the framework of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Among those, Rwanda merged the best committed and prepared to trade. The report dubbed “AfCFTA Year Zero Report” indicates that Rwanda is the most AfCFTA committed country scoring 83.93% on the commitment scale; the least committed country is Eritrea with a score of 0.85%, according to AfroChampions. The overall average commitment level of the continent to AfCFTA is at 44.48%; its overall implementation readiness level is at 49.15%. Among the region countries, Uganda emerged as the fourth most committed country behind
Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission during the AfCFTA launch in 2018, Kigali.
The status of AfCFTA by April 2019
Rwanda Mali and Togo. The report also points out that Uganda is not prepared to trade due to “poor or lack of trade infrastructure, customs efficiency and access to credit for industry.” Conversely, some of the least committed countries such as Botswana, Namibia and Tanzania performed very strongly in terms of implementation readiness. Rwanda came top of the ranking of the 55 states.” Michael Kottoh, head of strategy and research at Afrochampions, told the media while reacting to the report. Regarding what should be done given low readiness and COVID-19 pandemic, the authors underscore that “low readiness is not a good reason to delay Start of Trade” on July 1, 2020 as set. However, one of the crosscutting challenges as highlighted in the report, is that, “not a single country has completed a National AfCFTA Implementation Strategy” despite trading starting on July 01, 2020. The AfCFTA was signed in 2018 with a plan to create the world’s largest free trade zone, came into force on May 30, 2019 while implementation is set for July 1.
www.virungapost.com
Issue no 001 July 2020
REGIONAL
13 3
Write our debts off or we default!, Uganda to international lenders
The Ugandan government’s endless, unaccountable borrowing is further killing the future of children like these Iganga promary school children.
By Melodie Mukansonera Days after Fitch ratings singled out Uganda as one of the countries likely to slide into debt distress because of its excessive borrowing, the country’s central bank has now announced that the country is not in position to pay its debts “unless a miracle happens”. “This has thrown businessmen, investors, and other stakeholders in the Ugandan economy into consternation; uncertain what the future brings,” said Makumbi Mukasa, a Kyambogo graduate and business expert. In a recent interview with the media, Bank of Uganda Executive Director for Research Dr. Adam Mugume revealed that Uganda has no money to pay its public debt. Mugume, quoted in WatchdoUg, a Kampala website, was very categorical in his remarks, saying: “We are only
assuming now that either we have the oil revenue coming on board or we go and ask for debt forgiveness or we default,” he said. “Apart from these three options, I don’t see how we shall repay our debts.” Uganda has been mortgaging its oil for these loans. However, informed commentators aren’t sure it is still even owned by Uganda. “They have already been ferrying away the oil, clandestinely and in trucks; the regime of “untouchables” already received and ate the money,” said political commentator Joseph Kabuleta in a video widely shared on YouTube. “So, you cannot rely on that oil to pay off the nation’s debts,” Kabuleta added. Mugume’s comments followed the recent Fitch Ratings’ downgrade of Uganda’s economic prospects, as a result of excessive borrowing. Fitch indicated that there is a higher chance that
the country may default on the loans that are being acquired. In a related development, the June 2020 Monetary Policy Report that was released early this week by BoU indicates that “external debt continues to be the dominant component of public debt, accounting for 68.4 percent, while domestic debt accounts for 31.6 percent. Although most of the external debt is from multilateral creditors, there has been a significant increase in semi-and non-concessional borrowing, in part reflecting increased borrowing from bilateral lenders.” The report, which was posted on BoU’s website, also indicates that; “Given the rise in debt levels, there is a growing concern of risk to debt distress” Further, Uganda’s recent monitory policy framework paper indicates that, “debt service as a share of government tax revenue has risen drastically in the recent
www.virungapost.com
past. Indeed, Uganda’s debt service has surpassed the threshold level in in the financial year 2019/20 and it is projected to remain high in the financial year 2020/21. This could be an early indication for fiscal risk that could lead to high levels of debt distress.” Uganda’s Ministry of Finance recently announced that the external debt was $ 8.59 billion, which translates into Ushs 31.53 trillion, while domestic debt was $ 4.73 billion, which is about Shs17.38 trillion. “Uganda’s problem is that ‘the eaters’ are eating recklessly like there is no tomorrow,” Kabuleta, who has recently announced he is contesting the 2021 presidential elections, said. “The eaters’ are old now, but they show zero concern for the young of today,” he added. “Their only concern is to keep amassing personal wealth, and when they borrow more so as to have more to steal, they are looting the future of the children!”
Issue no 001 July 2020
SPORTS
14 3
THE NEW NORMAL: Golf, Hiking, Tennis A caddie in Rwanda is missing a golf bag while a tennis player cannot wait to pick his racket to hit the yellow ball, but the wait will be over very soon. A recent statement on Cabinet Resolutions allowed non-contact sports to resume after nearly three months in COVID-19 lockdown which affected every business, sports, and entertainment. The cabinet gave responsibility to the ministry of Sports to share the underlying guidelines that will enable Rwandans to remain steadfast in preventing coronavirus spread as these non-contacts sports resume. On June 5, not only the ministry put in place the guidelines, rules to follow to avoid any risk that would expose players to COVID-19, but also released the list of sports that will resume on June 8. The Sports that are allowed are Jogging, Tennis, Golf, Cycling Athletics, Hiking, Fencing and Auto racing. The guidelines for any player who will be involved are among others; to keep all equipment clean, using hand sanitizers and other required hygiene guidelines. “Every player should have their own equipment and should avoid to put them in contact with their fellow’s equipment,” the instructions read. Wearing the face mask, keeping a 1.5-meter distance is also mandatory. The Minister of Sports Mimosa Munyangaju warned that if a player has some signs of fever, headache, caught among others, they should not go in the public nor play at the pitch, they should rather consult the doctor. Players in some of the sports that were allowed to resume, told the media that they are ready For example, tennis games are often used to help players of all abilities to practice the different strokes by using a racket to hit a
www.virungapost.com
yellow ball, across a one-meter net, from one end of the court (playing ground) to another. The game can involve two to eight players (single and double games on a ground which is about 23.77 metres long 8.23 metres wide (for singles matches) and 10.97 metres width for doubles matches. The 3-set game takes about one hour, and basically the player comes into contact with the ball when picking and hitting it, and doesn’t have to meet the other player unless greeting before and after the game. Other persons who can come into contact with the ball are the young boys who pick balls while players hit across Eric Nshyimiye, 30, who has been in the local Tennis fraternity for the last twelve years said; “There is very little contact in the game. We are very thankful that tennis was allowed to resume because some of us depend on it to survive.” For professional tennis players returning on the court will help to catch with the upcoming Rwanda Tennis Open which is normally November. This game is perhaps a sport most easily adaptable to social distancing. Each player has their own clubs (long light iron equipment used to play), hand gloves, balls and tees used in the game which takes about four hours to go round 9-holes. The game also requires a player to have a caddie (guide) who carries a player’s golf bag and picks the right clubs for the player to use. In some developed countries, players have motorized golf trucks used to carry the golf bags reducing the need for a caddie. Staggered tee times, clubhouse closures and using gloves to touch flags are some measures introduced in other countries where sport is still being played.