President Paul Kagame who betrayed the whole nation to enrich himself.

In the late 1990’s Major Paul Kagame of Basima House was appointed by President Museveni of Uganda to coordinate the Rwandese Patriotic Army (RPA) activities after losing most of its top commanders. Although, instead of becoming a leader with integrity and honesty leading the army with authenticity and courage Maj. Kagame instead devised a plan of systematic exclusion, marginalising and execution of fellow commanders.
Most of these commanders, as I have mentioned before in other publications, were not actually a threat to Maj. Kagame, however the only way he felt safe was to exterminate whoever he felt uncomfortable.
It is worth mentioning once more that the initial RPA army that served with him in Uganda before crossing to Rwanda did not have any trust in Maj. Kagame due to his lack of combat hardness and warfare skills.
Kagame was called upon from the Military school from where he had been sent by Museveni when RPA lost most of its leaders in the early days of the struggle. The actual combat and battle operations were conducted by the commanders on the ground, while the strategic command and supplies was conducted in Kampala by among all Maj. Gen Salim Saleh who vowed to finish what his close friend Maj. Gen Fred Rwigyema had commenced.

Kagame’s role therefore was to coordinate the forward battle while getting orders from the top command in Kampala reporting to Commanders including Gen Saleh himself, Maj. Kale Kayihura and Patrick Karegeya who were dedicated to the Rwandan war at the time by President Museveni.
It felt normal to all of us for Kagame to live far away from the frontline since we had lost our top commanders at the start of the war and the fact that Kagame was speaking direct to President Museveni who was helping us realise our dream of returning to our motherland.
Today, however, I will focus on Kagame’s selfish lifestyle, the disregard to anyone around him and his lust for luxury.
Back in the bush war, Kagame would come from Kampala packed with luxury meals to last him the entire weeks he spent with us before going back. He would feast on extravagant packed foods from top Kampala supermarkets while the rest of us his bodyguards and the entire army struggled to have enough Maize corn and beans (IMVUNGURE) for a day. He would also bring with him numerous chickens that fed on our scarcely rationed maize corn until they were slaughtered for him. The rest of the commanders who fought the battles in their respective mobile squadrons were served the same maize and beans like all of us.
Kagame’s narcissistic nature as a leader was evident from the very beginning. Around May 1991 after the Ruhengeri offensive, Kagame was served a meal that he did not finish due to his bad appetite. The hungry young soldiers who had served him returned the meal together with some biscuits and started eating the leftovers. When Kagame saw them eating his leftover food he came running took the plate and stamped on the food. AT the time we did not understand his actions but in retrospect it was obvious of his ruling personality then and now. Kagame cares very little for those who surround him and no one is to have something that he would even throw away.
By as early as 1992 Kagame had managed to scheme himself around the RPA command structure and had made himself the Chairman of the High Command and promoted himself to Major General stationed at Mulindi Tea Estate headquarters.
Here at Mulindi the now self-appointed Maj. Gen Kagame enjoyed the luxury of hot water and electricity and a clear supply route to Kabale for his exotic food supply.
After the fall of Kigali, “vice-president” Maj. Gen Kagame’s lust for luxury grew at an unimaginable rate. He immediately ordered a fleet of expensive bulletproof vehicles while disregarding the crisis the country.


This was a time when the government needed to focus money in order to help the returning refugees as well as those who had just fled the country.
Yet instead, Kagame continued enriching himself at any cost possible.
He grabbed land from the innocent citizens of Muhazi and started up his Ranch, which he furnished with over 200 Friesian cows flown in from Switzerland, just to prove a point to sponsors of our struggle.
Mr Kagame continued to enrich himself by investing the government money in his dairy business (inyange), supermarkets and many investments under his companies’ Venture Capital and Tri-Star later named Crystal Ventures.
As if this was not enough, Kagame introduced the unnecessary tax known as Umusoro w’umutekano or Security Tax around 1996/1997 to his starving citizens directly and to all government and NGO employees. This tax resulted in many people leaving the country due to its tough and un-realistic requirements.
Mr Kagame spent an exorbitant amount of taxpayer’s and donor money to build airspace surveillance Radar just because he felt uncomfortable with neighbouring countries due to his involvement in regional wars.

After he collected all the citizens taxes and minerals from the Congo he invested the money in banks such as Bank de Kigali (BK), BCDI and Bank Commercial de Rwanda after he conflicted with the top proprietors of each of the bank. These Banks continue to belong to him under the façade of different shareholders whom he controls.
A few years after Gen Kagame purchased the London building on plot 122 Seymour Place, London, W1H 1NR he then rented the property to the Rwandan High Commission in the UK. Surprisingly, Colina Enterprises, the buildings listed owner, is registered in Panama in the name of two close collaborators to the Rwandan Head of State.

Back in 2003, Kagame’s nephew Byusa accompanied by Hatari Sekoko in one of Kagame’s two US$50 million Bombardier Jets, travelled to Panama to set Colina Enterprise, which subsequently purchased a building from one Bright Grahame Murray for almost £2 million. This three-storied building in the heart of London now houses the Rwandan High Commission, having moved from Trafalgar Square, where it used to share same premises with the Ugandan Embassy.
Naturally, the rent for the new Embassy should be paid from the national treasury or the Ministry of Finance, where his excellence Paul Kagame has yet another strong link for executing his misdeeds.

Sitting in the upper echelons of the Finance Ministry is no other than Pitchette Kampeta Sayinzoga, the wife of Kagame’s nephew Byusa and the co-director of Colina Enterprise. She is the permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and therefore ensures the smooth transactions-and to make the landlord and tenant happy.
Those familiar with the famous Kagame Bombardier Global Express Aircraft will see a similar pattern here, as one should recall, the aircraft are said to be ‘’owned ‘’ by Repli Investments 29 (pty) Ltd, a company registered in South Africa under Hatari Sekoko, Jean Paul Nyirubatama, who is a close relative to Jeannette Kagame coincidentally, and Manasseh Nshuti as directors. (More can be read here about his personal jets http://kigalipost.wordpress.com/2010/05/28/s-africa-based-luxury-jets-owned-by-rpf-nshuti/)
There goes the Kagame brand of good governance and transparency that has become the hallmark in selling his image to Britain and other donor Governments.
Sgt Hatari Sekoko was Kagame’s driver in Uganda and kept his job throughout the wartime commuting Kagame to and from Kampala in his Mercedes Benz G Wagon (Cross-Country) until he promoted him to the rank of Captain. Apart from that Sekoko is an illiterate mal-trained soldier who spent most of his time as a mechanic in military transport headquarters and garages where he acquired his nickname ‘Kibanda’ or Conman.
Manasseh Nshuti, the third director of Kagame’s Repli Investments 29 (pty) Ltd is a close relative to the president himself. Manasseh was repatriated from Scotland by Kagame himself appointing him as Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, a post he did not hold for long due to critics from donors for his lack of performance.
In a country still heavily dependent on foreign aid from western backers, it appears that President Kagame has deep pockets when it suits his own balance sheet. Financial and political corruption have been the modus operandi in Rwanda since the RPF took power in 1994. Yet, what about the areas beyond Kigali? What about the rural population that struggles on a daily basis to feed their families? Their hard work has gone to support the life of luxury that President Kagame has grown quite accustomed. Foreign Aid backers must start holding Paul Kagame accountable to the use of aid monies or this corruption will continue to serve the selfish desires of Paul Kagame himself.

Kagame during the war in the early 1990’s entering the jeep with his close body guards.

Noble Marara
Edited by Rwema Francis

Kagame’s luxury life and unnecessary spending will continue in the next Behind The Presidential Curtain article.
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