VirungaPost epaper issue 39

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Your source for credible news Issue no 039

September, 2021

BREAKING: Ugandan academician with Rwandan roots abducted in Uganda

NEWS

Kampala propaganda media trot out insinuations about Jay Polly’s demise, but facts prove them wrong Page 2

NEWS

Breaking: Uganda dumps six tortured Rwandans at Kagitumba Border Page 4

OP - ED

Burera Mayor disavows Ugandan propaganda media lies Page 6

OP - ED

Reports indicate that Dr. Muganga, a Ugandan with Rwandan roots, was dragged from his office at the university in Kampala as fellow staff and students looked on in dead silence. The abductors, armed to the teeth, forced the don Page 3 into a waiting “drone” van, and sped off. Get a free copy of our e-paper

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Ugandan authorities chose to not collect deceased smuggler’s body for unknown reasons, have now changed their mind Page 7


NEWS

Issue no 039 September 2021

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Kampala propaganda media trot out insinuations about Jay Polly’s demise, but facts prove them wrong freed Mihigo from prison four years into a ten-year sentence, as well as an autopsy that showed he died by self-strangulation.

By Melody Mukansonera Uganda’s anti-Rwanda propaganda websites like TrumpetNews and CommandPost have again embarked on a feeding frenzy following the death Joshua Tuyishime, more popularly known as Jay Polly, who very unfortunately succumbed to stomach pains after it was determined by hospital authorities that he had drank a mixture of dangerous spirits, sugar and water. That led to the rapper’s hospitalization at Muhima Hospital and later to his demise when his condition deteriorated. But following the announcement of Jay Polly’s passing, the Kampala-based TrumpetNews, and Commandonepost, all controlled by Ugandan Military Intelligence (CMI), rushed to post their propaganda even before the facts of the story were out. Their insinuation was that the deceased death somehow was because at the time of his demise Jay Polly was doing time in Nyarugenge Prison. “This game of CMI paid propagandists of weaponizing any incident to tarnish or smear Rwanda is very old now, and

In their story however, the CMI propaganda outlets have wasted no time exploiting the death of Jay Polly, trying to draw parallels with it and the demise of Mihigo, with nothing but pure insinuations.

CMI propaganda outlets are busy exploiting the unfortunate demise of rapper Jay Polly, with anti-Rwanda government insinuations

should surprise no one,” a social media analyst in Kigali commented. Jay Polly was in prison for violating Covid-19 restrictions following arrest on 23 April after he was found with eleven other people at his house in Kibagabaga having a party, and other related offences. “Yet the propagandists are trying to politicize that fact, and trying to link the politicized version of the

story with his unfortunate passing,” the analyst added. The same peddlers of misinformation, teaming up with other anti-Rwanda propagandists elsewhere, are still weaponizing the suicide of Kizito Mihigo in February last year, with politicized accusations that the government killed him. All the objective facts are that Mihigo killed himself, beginning with a presidential clemency in 2019 that

In the latest development, Rwanda Correctional Service (RCS) issued a statement confirming that the singer consumed a concoction which led to his hospitalization and later his demise when his condition deteriorated. “Initial information indicates that Jay Polly and two colleagues, Harerimana Gilbert and Iyamuremye Jean Clement, shared a concoction of alcohol (methanol), used by inmates while shaving, which they mixed with aftershave, water and sugar themselves,” the RCS statement, signed by the Spokesperson, SSP Pelly Uwera Gakwaya, reads in part.

Rwandan man brutally stabbed to death in Kabale regime to harass, or persecute Rwandan nationals as for years Kampala has mounted a campaign of hostility against Rwanda, and Rwandan nationals which by now is well known to all.

By Patience Kirabo Rwandan citizen Theoneste Dusabimana, 52, was today – Monday 30 – in the morning around 10:30 found dead with multiple stab wounds. That happened in the Kibumba Parish of Karujanga Sub County in Uganda’s Kabale district. Dusabimana was found lying in a pool of blood by a Ugandan police officer about 700 meters away from the Rwanda border, from the village of Kagugu, in the Rubaya sector of Gicumbi District. It was apparent that Ugandan security authorities had murdered Dusabimana, sources familiar with the incident said. They victimized Dusabimana, who has been a resident of

National IdD Card of Theoneste Dusabimana who was stabbed to death.

Kabale for some time, when he was murdered on his way to Rwanda. According to sources, the killers robbed the deceased of a million Rwandan francs, and his belongings were taken from his lifeless body with. The 52-year-old is the third Rwandan in two months to fall victim to the premeditated cold-blooded murders targeting Rwandans in Uganda. Dusabima-

na’s ordeal is similar to that of Bazambanza Munyemana who too lived in Kabale, and was brutally killed early in June this year. Bazambanza was beaten and burnt to death, and his body was tied on sticks and dumped by his Ugandan assailants near the Rwandan border. The security authorities in Uganda have all the permission they need from the Museveni

Every murder of Rwandans – like all other brutal crimes against innocent Rwandan nationals in Uganda – is never investigated. The security agencies of Uganda, foremost the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence have full impunity to inflict any crime against Rwandans, in contravention of all laws: national, regional, or international. It was reported that Dusabimana’s body was still at the crime scene, with Ugandan authorities issuing no communication.

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NEWS

Issue no 039 September 2021

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BREAKING: Ugandan academician with Rwandan roots abducted in Uganda

Dr. Muganga a Ugandan academician of Rwandan origin was brutally abducted from his place of work, by CMI director Abel Kandiho’s men.

By Melodie Mukansonera Reports indicate that Dr. Muganga, a Ugandan with Rwandan roots, was dragged from his office at the university in Kampala as fellow staff and students looked on in dead silence. The abductors, armed to the teeth, forced the don into a waiting “drone” van, and sped off. Dr. Muganga’s abduction sent a wave of criticism on social media, which forced the UPDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Flavia Byekwaso to come up acknowledging that it’s indeed the army that abducted him in what she claimed to be “espionage and illegal stay in Uganda.” This prompted questions about how a Ugandan can be accused of illegal stay in his country. Ugandan authorities have used the espionage claim time and time again to persecute, abduct and torture thousands of Rwandans living, working, or transiting through Uganda. Victims have ranged from babies, to people as old as 70 years of age. Victims

also frequently include Ugandans with Rwandan ancestry. None of the victims is ever produced before court, and no evidence has ever been provided to back the alleged espionage claims, or other accusations against Rwandans.

200 Rwandans who were abducted by CMI and tortured over the same trumped up charges were dumped at the border after all

“Museveni was recently claiming that no one should be tortured or taken with no due process,” a social media account remarked. “Yet Dr. Muganga was brutally beaten up, ridiculed and kidnapped in front of his staff and students!”

The campaign of harassment against Rwandan nationals in Uganda started when Kampala got into bed with terrorist groups, mainly Kayumba Nyamwasa’s RNC in plots to destabilize Rwanda. It has never been a secret that Museveni desired to control Rwanda from Kampala. But when Kigali stood its ground, insisting Rwanda be treated with equal respect as a fellow sovereign state, the Ugandan ruler escalated his anti-Rwanda hostility. As a result countless numbers of Rwandans, either traveling to Uganda or already living there, fell victim to lawless behavior including abductions, illegal detentions, torture, even death for the most unfortunate, at the hands of Ugandan security forces.

Other commentators added: “If Museveni ordered the abduction of Dr. Muganga on grounds of illegal stay in Uganda, then the same should apply to him as well since he is not Ugandan and has been living in Uganda illegally. He simply hates Rwandans yet he is in fact a Rwandan too!” In the last few weeks, inhuman acts against Rwandans in Uganda escalated to unimaginable levels. In that period, over

their belongings were confiscated or stolen from them by members of Ugandan security organs.

Dr. Muganga only is the latest victim. CMI director Abel Kandiho

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NEWS

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Breaking: Uganda dumps six tortured Rwandans at Kagitumba Border By Patience Kirabo Yesterday afternoon at around 1:05 pm, Ugandan authorities dumped six Rwandan nationals at the Kagitumba border post in Nyagatare district. The unceremonious act follows periods of illegal detention, torture in different detention facilities for the innocent victims in Uganda. That country’s security forces have kept up a relentless campaign of harassment and persecution of Rwandan nationals in Uganda for over four years now. The most recent group to be deported comprised of four men and two women and most had been detained at Mbarara police station for one month. One of the victims had lived in

Kampala for four years as a teacher at one of the primary schools, before starting his own tuition business in addition to other businesses like farming and construction. A characteristic of Ugandan security operatives, foremost the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence, CMI, is to target well-to-do Rwandan nationals, with the aim of robbing them of their money or property. CMI operatives have targeted countless numbers of Rwandans in this way, abducting them, robbing them of money whether from their business premises, or from their mobile money accounts, and so on. Afterwards CMI operatives will accuse their victims of “spying for Rwanda”, or “illegal entry” (however much their travel papers are

in order), and even “illegal weapons possession.” No Rwandan arrested has been taken to court for their side of the story to be heard. The more lucky ones will be dumped at the borders following time in torture dungeons, such as those dumped today at Gatuna. One of the latest victims narrated, “I was taken to a police station cell for one day, and transferred to Mbuya Military Barracks (CMI headquarters) and I was accused of being a Rwandan spy.” As is always the case there were no charges in a court. While at Mbuya he says, he saw many Rwandans there, and the

draconian torture and physical mistreatment meted out on them. This is a familiar tale, narrated by so many others before. Of the six dumped today, when tested for Covid-19 upon arrival, two tested positive from the virus. The whole group was placed in quarantine at different isolation centers where they will receive treatment. The Ugandan authorities deliberately failed to observe Covid prevention protocols, either during detention, or when transporting the group. All of the victims narrated torture and mistreatment at the hands of their jailers, who held them on concocted charges of “illegal entry”, “illegal stay” in Uganda, or, “spying for the Rwandan government.”

Ugandan authorities continue persecuting Rwandans holding them in illegal detentions and torturing them.

Kabale official seems to imagine Rwanda should leave her borders open to every Ugandan criminal element By Alex Muhumuza Yesterday Ugandan propaganda websites, among them Chimpreports and Watchdoguganda, posted articles as usual full of anti-Rwanda smears. That followed Rwanda’s handing over to Kabale District authorities of

the body of one Justus Kabagambe – a Ugandan smuggler that in the night of 23 August, this month lost his life in Rwanda as a result of his actions. This man and eight of his accomplices had attempted to smuggle a big quantity of the illicit kanyanga moonshine and cartons of cosmetics for use in

skin bleaching, all illegal in Rwanda. When a security patrol intercepted, and ordered the smugglers to stop, they turned violent. They attacked with machetes, and sharpened poles, ibisongo that can inflict serious injury. Members of the security patrol fired in self-defense, and

Kabagambe lost his life while the eight others ran away. Yet Ugandan propagandist media have choosen to lie that he was “a businessman”, dishonestly trying to sanitize the smug-

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OP-ED

Issue no 039 September 2021

> From page 4 gler to make it seem he was a law-abiding person. All of the Kampala media moreover reported the incident omitting other important information, such as the fact the smugglers choose to travel deep into the night, yet terrorist attacks into Rwanda have originated from such porous routes. This is a fact that alone prompted Kigali authorities to remark: “where Rwanda’s security is concerned, you can be a hundred percent sure we will be very vigilant!” The CMI-run websites quoted Nelson Nshangabasheija, the Kabale LC5 chairman, saying that he “has expressed his disappointment by Rwanda’s actions of shooting on sight Ugandan traders who attempt to cross to their land.” He then commented that Ugandans at the Uganda-Rwanda border “did a fundamental role in the liberation of Rwanda, which is common knowledge among the Rwandan leaders.” He then added, “killing Ugandans today is not a reward that the East African Country should be getting. “Some of our people died in crossfire, our properties were destroyed. We expected Rwanda

to be good neighbors. Now they are killing our people, bringing us dead bodies to us!” “First of all, why is Nshangabasheija calling a smuggler ‘a trader’, unless Nshangabasheija too has joined propaganda?” the official, who requested anonymity, wondered. He then wondered if the help Ugandans accorded Rwanda is supposed to be rewarded with Rwanda opening her borders to every criminal element from Uganda. “Is that the price of Uganda’s help?,” wondered the official who then asked: “but why is Nshangabasheija not talking of the thousands of Ugandan citizens living in Rwanda working peacefully in various sectors: education, motor vehicle repair, industry, even high-end occupations such as consultancy?” Rwandans with knowledge of history have always reminded Ugandans that Museveni himself benefitted hugely from the presence of thousands of Banyarwanda in his NRA guerrillas – the very ones that formed the core of the RPA that also liberated Rwanda from tyranny and genocide. “We will always be grateful for the help that the Ugandans accorded

us in our liberation struggle, but Nshangabasheijas and others like them should get it into their minds that they, starting from Museveni, should always be grateful for the role of Rwandan fighters in getting them to power,” a security official in Kigali remarked. Chimpreports and other Ugandan media have been making big claims about how Justus Kadogo Kabagambe is “the tenth Ugandan to be shot and killed by Rwandans since Rwanda closed her borders with Uganda on 27th of February 2019.” They fail to mention that in fact only violent smugglers have lost their lives, invariably confronting Rwandan security patrols with sharp weapons, spears, machetes, sharpened poles, and similar, prompting firing in self-defense. “Their only intention is to always deflect blame on Rwanda for their failures,” said a local authority in one Rwandan border district. On the other hand, when Rwandan authorities apprehend Ugandan law-breakers, they hand them back to their country, with not the slightest mistreatment. Despite Kampala misinformation, Ugandans that happen to break

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the law in Rwanda will be processed through the courts; then repatriated through official channels. Ugandan embassy officials have seen this. “Even when it is a Ugandan that dies in Rwanda, they will be accorded dignity and be properly repatriated,” remarked a Kigali commentator. He added: “compare that to the behavior of Ugandan security like CMI, and how they treat completely innocent Rwandans with accusations of spying, yet no one is tried in court.” The times Ugandan authorities have dumped Rwandan civilians, men, women, old people, young children, babies at the borders – all having spent time in CMI dungeons, “safe houses” or police cells suffering torture – cannot be counted. The not-so-lucky ones have died in Mbuya, and other dungeons. Anguished relatives in Rwanda that beg to at least have the bodies of loved ones repatriated are many. “Museveni’s people can talk, and pretend at victimhood so as to tarnish Rwanda, but their lies are very easy to expose,” said another social media commentator.

Rwandan authorities handed over a deceased Ugandan smuggler who with his accomplices attacked a Rwandan security patrol, prompting a shot in self-defense. Rwanda handed over the body in full dignity – unlike Rwandans in Uganda that CMI for no reason abducts, tortures, and dumps. Rwandan victims also get killed, never to be seen by relatives.

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Issue no 039 September 2021

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Another Rwandan brutally murdered, in Ugandan capital Kampala By Patience Kirabo In a barbaric manner, Rwandan national Bahati Ntwali has been strangled and burnt to death by assailants that callously left him in his home in Kampala. This occurred in the night of Saturday 28th, 2021, yet another incident that fits in the pattern of Ugandan state-orchestrated violence against innocent Rwandan nationals. The murderers of Ntwali strangled him, robbed him of money and everything in the house, and thereafter set him ablaze. This also fits a pattern whereby Ugandan security operatives have been robbing targeted Rwandan nationals. In most cases they have been torturing them in dungeons, on false accusations of spying. However they are increasingly killing Rwandans. Before meeting his brutal end, Ntwali had been living in Uganda for more than four years, working as a successful mechanic with a garage in Kampala. His corpse

was found in his burnt-down house by a friend who had come to pick him to go together to work. The friend immediately reported the crime to the police, who only reluctantly appeared at the scene. Sources report that according to a lead given to the police, they were able to get one of the suspects who however escaped from the security men. “This obviously is a false story; how can a murderer just escape, so conveniently like that?” said a source familiar with the issue when they talked to this website. According to the deceased’s sister who identified the body in Kampala, investigations into the matter are ongoing. The disconsolate lady did not sound convinced however that there was any real investigation going on. No authorities in Kigali have received any official communication from their Ugandan counterparts on the issue. Murders of Rwandan nationals

Members of Uganda’s security forces in action. The unexplained violent deaths of Rwandans in Uganda may be traced to such individuals.

have become prevalent in Uganda, but not a single suspect has been brought forward despite claims of “ongoing investigations” that always accompany such crimes. It has long become ordinary that Rwandans are victimized in Uganda, and brutally tortured or killed, no matter how unconnected they are to any matters to do with the Kampala regime’s hostility against Rwanda. Most are lucky to not die. Nothing is ever done to solve any crime against a Rwandan national in Uganda.

“This just shows that the organs supposed to solve crimes; the security organs of Uganda are the ones targeting Rwandans,” a Kigali official said on request of anonymity. Others have been all along showing that the impunity which the murderers enjoy is possible because of the environment of hostility against Rwanda, and Rwandans by the Kampala regime, Ntwali is just another Rwandan that has been set ablaze by Ugandan assailants.

Burera Mayor disavows Ugandan propaganda media lies was very shocked since she never said anything like that.

By Alain Mucyo An article has been published on the Watchdoguganda website – one of the numerous outlets of misinformation on the payroll of Ugandan Military Intelligence, CMI – that is full of fictitious quotes attributed to the mayor of Burera District, Marie-Chantal Uwanyirigira. The article, published yesterday, Tuesday 31 August, claims in its headline that the mayor said, “Ugandans will continue to be killed, tell them not to come to Rwanda.”

“That is a complete lie that they just fabricated!” exclaimed Uwanyirigira when our reporter contacted her.

Today, 01 September, Commandonepost, one of the more notorious Ugandan propaganda organs made the same claims as Watchdoguganda, that “the Rwandan mayor who handed over the body of a Ugandan man murdered in Rwanda remarked that Ugandans will continue to be killed in Rwanda.” When Mayor Uwanyirigira saw what the CMI propaganda websites had written, she says she

Burera Mayor Marie Chantal Uwanyirigira talks to Kabale District authorities following handover of the body of a deceased Ugandan smuggler. Ugandan propaganda media have been concocting dangerous lies about the mayor.

The smuggler, one Justus “Kadogo” Kabagambe, lost his life in the night of 23 August, the preceding month, after he and eight accomplices violently confronted a Rwandan security patrol in the Kibuye Sector of Burera, several kilometers inside Rwandan territory. They were interceptd in the act of transporting a big quantity of the kanyanga moonshine, as well as bundles of the Movit cosmetics that can be used to make skin bleaching creams, all illegal in Rwanda. When ordered to stop however, instead of obeying the law the smugglers chose to attack – with machetes and sharpened poles, ibisongo – which prompted the security men

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OP-ED

Issue no 039 September 2021

> From page 6 to fire in self-defense. Kabagambe met his demise while the others ran away. The body was collected and taken to Butaro Hospital in Burera. In the wake of the incident all Ugandan media turned into peddlers of anti-Rwanda propaganda, as they often do. The usual CMI-controlled outlets of misinformation and all the mainstream media were claiming that, “Rwanda had killed another Ugandan.” Others were deliberately misleading their audience that “Rwanda had killed a Ugandan businessman”, or “trader.”

They intentionally omitted to mention that Kabagambe and his accomplices broke the law, first of all when they tried to smuggle illicit goods into Rwanda, second when they ignored a lawful order to stop, and third when they attacked security men with their weapons, which prompted the discharge of a firearm.

have written!”

When our reporter talked to Uwanyirigira she said those were the facts of the matter as she relayed to her counterpart upon handover of the body.

None of them, Chimpreports, Nilepost, Vanguardnews, or Watchdoguganda itself, or The New Vision, Daily Monitor, and others, quoted Uwanyirigira saying Ugandans will continue to be killed in Rwanda, or telling Ugandans not to come to Rwanda.

“I never said anything else other than this, and I am very surprised by what the Ugandan websites

An examination of what the Kampala media, both organs of misinformation and the mainstream, published after the smuggler’s body was handed over reveals no quotes of the Burera mayor saying what Watchdoguganda attributes to her.

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“You have to wonders what the motive of these CMI tools are in suddenly concocting and publishing this sinister lie!” said a security source in Kigali that spoke off the record. “If this is what they resort to, to tarnish Rwanda they are really getting desperate,” he added. Rwandan authorities have always maintained that all law-abiding Ugandans are welcome. Many nationals of Uganda live, and work in Rwanda peacefully, coming and going as they wish.

Ugandan authorities chose to not collect deceased smuggler’s body for unknown reasons, have now changed their mind By Alain Mucyo Saturday 28 August, is when Ugandan authorities are supposed to collect the body of Justus Kadogo Kabagambe, a Ugandan smuggler who with his eight accomplices turned violent when a Rwandan security patrol stopped them, forcing members of the patrol to shoot him in self-defense. The body has been lying in the mortuary of Butaro Hospital in Burera for over a week now with no Ugandan having come to collect it, despite repeated calls by Rwandan authorities to their counterparts to come collect it. Kampala propaganda websites have since published a lot of misinformation about the incident, including claims by Chimpreports – one of the several outlets of misinformation for Ugandan Military Intelligence, CMI – that the family of the dead man was “begging Rwanda for the body.” In an article published this Thursday, Chimpreports was trying very hard to insinuate that Rwanda was refusing to hand over the body to the Ugandans. “That’s simply a lie,” Rwandan border authorities have clarified. “The facts are that from Wednesday18 August – the very day the deceased was taken to Butaro hospital – we have been in touch with the mayor of Kabale District,

Ugandan president Museveni. Authorities of his country have been intentionally delaying to pick the body of a deceased Ugandan smuggler, with CMI media milking the incident for propaganda purposes.

to discuss the handover process. But to our surprise they were evasive. At one point five days later – on Monday 23, this week – the mayor of Kabale even said ‘they were waiting to receive instructions from higher authorities in Kampala!’” Our source pointed out that the Ugandan authorities obviously had their reasons for their delays. Now the Ugandans are saying they will collect the body today. But even before Chimpreports published its latest anti-Rwanda falsehoods, it together with seemingly the whole of Ugandan

media were feeding their readers the fiction that “Rwanda had killed an innocent Ugandan businessman.” The true facts of the case are that Kabagambe’s demise came about through his own violent acts. In the night of Wednesday last week, he together with his fellow smugglers used a porous border crossing in the Kibuye Sector of Burera District, transporting six jerrycans of the kanyanga moonshine as well as 90 packets of the Movit cosmetics. The latter can be used in making the illegal mukorogo skin bleaching creams.

When the security patrol challenged them, that was when the smugglers, armed with machetes and sharpened sticks, ibisongo, attacked, leaving members of the patrol no choice but to fire in self-defense. Afterwards the body was taken to Butaro for examination, and identification, and to prepare it for handover. Social media commentators say the delay to pick the body was a strategy by Ugandan authorities to milk the incident as much as they could for propaganda purposes.

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