Kagame in Rubavu recently

A couple of weeks ago president Kagame threatened to eliminate anyone who would dare attack his country, he stated that it would not take even seconds before he arrests or kill anyone who would tamper with the national security. In his threatening language the President said that he was aching in his hands while referring to being frantic and could not wait for the enemy to attack his country so that he could hit them hard.

Although a few weeks’ later armed people attacked the police post of Rubavu in Gisenyi and took a large amount of ammunitions plus killing over 19 of his troops plus an unknown figure of his police officers.

President Kagame responded by pouring hundreds of RDF troops as well as the police who arrested and jailed civilians and killed the rest. Also his senior commanders have spent weeks in the area threatening innocent civilians, the head of police Gen Emmanuel Gasana aka Rurayi who also spent a couple of days in the area stated that he doubted if the attackers were from the FDLR fighters. ‘’I think we need to wait and see the outcome of investigations, so far the style used by these insurgents is different from how normally FDLR plans and executes operations’’.

After that rancorous attack President Kagame called for a crisis meeting which was attended by mainly his intelligence officers as well as army Chiefs, he asked them to share information and analyse who had sent the enemy, Gen James Kabarebe who is also the defence Minister said that the attackers were from the FDLR insurgents. President Kagame interrupted and asked Gen Kabarebe how they had managed to get on Rwandan soil. Without wasting time Kagame ordered the arrest of all the suspects and in minutes the people of Rubavu discovered that even the local leaders have been arrested.

For so many years President Kagame managed to enjoy assaulting nations and killing his people unchallenged, but the Rubavu scenario might have surprised him and susceptible that it was really possible that enemies could even capture a town like Rubavu.

Looking back on how Kagame hates and allergic to being challenged, in late 1980’s while Kagame was the Deputy Head of the Ugandan directorate of military intelligence, a number of the Rwandese young boys who were in the Ugandan forces based at Captain Kaitare’s entourage and Gen Rwigema got drunk, among them was now Colonel Happy Ruvusha and others, then Major Kagame ordered their arrest.

Although after a few hours Captain Kaitare who was heading to war zone in Gulu northern Uganda stated that he was going with the soldiers who had been arrested by Kagame for drunk and disorderly, he went to the military police and ordered their release. He went with them to the war zone, he said that Kagame was becoming a nuisance, when he came back with his troops after a couple of weeks Major Kagame had not given up and turned at Captain Kaitare’s home in Kamwokya demanding as to why he had ignored the law and discharged the soldiers from jail when he knew they had committed crimes.

He threatened Captain Kaitare that he could potentially have broken the law, Captain Kaitare immediately took the gun out and put Kagame on gun point, he told him that he was an incompetent officer who did not deserve to be in the forces, he told him that they had more important issues such as the enemy to fight but not keeping forces in prisons. Captain Kaitare slapped Kagame twice in the face, Kagame who was sitting on the floor pleaded that we are all Rwandans and now we are fighting each other in exile.

CaptainVedaste Kaitare next to a muhabura journalist with Kagame

Indeed, Captain Kaitare locked Kagame in a room and left him in to rot, Kagame was taken out by other officers after two days and Captain Kaitare had left him in detention as he headed back to the war zone. Gen Rwigema ordered that Captain Kaitare stay in house arrest due to behaving inappropriate and mistreating a senior officer, the matter had to be resolved by President Museveni and Gen Fred Rwigema after a number of weeks. Even though innocently Commander Captain Kaitare thought that the matter had been resolved, Kagame knew very well that Kaitare did not respect him and Kagame started to work tirelessly to eliminate him, indeed he later successfully managed to achieve it through his close friends. Commander Kaitare was vulnerable because the person he trusted was a double dealer who gave him away, before his death he attended a meeting with Gen Salim Saleh in Uganda with the wife of Gen Fred Rwigema and what was said in that meeting was disclosed to Kagame by one of Kaitare’s friends who was also in the meeting.

Looking at Kagame’s challenges he has experienced three slaps in the face now, another challenge Kagame faced was when he was withdrawn from the front line because he was a coward who     exposed his comrades after he accidentally fired prematurely. Since then Museveni and Gen Rwigema agreed that Kagame should always be left in the headquarters and based in the intelligence service within the forces because he could not conduct operations. The idea of sparing Kagame in war zones kept him safe and because of feeding his gossip to Museveni, he was trusted in the intelligence service but not in combat, he was later made to become the political coordinator of the RPA.

President Museveni who threatened to block the supplies if Kagame is not made the then RPA leader, managed to confuse and convince the commanders of the RPA that Kagame was a changed man to lead them after they became divided fighting for Ranks.

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Since the slap in the face of Rubavu Kagame has started wearing a bulletproof jacket whenever he goes in public, he believes that within his people or the public someone may hit him. One of the soldiers who spoke to Behind the presidential curtains challenged Kagame by saying that ‘’ what Kagame doesn’t know is that if anyone want to shoot him will aim the head not the chest, so he better start wearing a helmet as well’’.

 

 

Kagame wearing a massive leather jacket to cover bulletproof vest

Written by Noble Marara