Rwanda: Patrick Karegeya - Myth or Martyr?

                                                  Patrick Karegeya, 53, found dead in Johannesburg hotel room.

BY GUARDIAN ON SUNDAY CORRESPONDENT

5th January 2014

Wednesday morning, Rwanda's former spy chief Mr Patrick Karegeya was found dead in a hotel room in South Africa. It wasn't long before the finger was pointed at Rwanda. Why not? It seems like the logical explanation.

Mr Karegeya fled the regime - and 20 years in jail - claiming he was not safe, and by his own standards he was Kagame's greatest foe. It seems the case was closed before his body reached the morgue. Kigali is silent.

But who is Karegeya? It seems Mr Karegeya was no angel. In fact, quite the contrary, he was a ruthless opportunist who would sacrifice the lives of ordinary Rwandans to gain the one thing he wanted most: power.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
During his time as the chief of external intelligence, Mr. Karegeya began to forge alliances with people like Felicien Kabuga, the man currently on the US most wanted list for financing the genocide against the Tutsi of 1994.

Through two of Kabuga's children, Donatien Nshimyumuremyi alias Nshima and Seraphine Uwimana who visited Rwanda between October and December 2003, Kabuga was able to regain the rights to family property. 

Under the directive of Mr. Karegeya, an officer of external Security accredited to the Rwanda Embassy in Belgium Mr Janvier Mabuye granted powers of attorney to both Kabuga's children.

Mr Karegeya provided all the necessary documentation and protection to the two women. Kabuga's family obtained ownership of the building next to City Plaza in downtown Kigali, and the building that houses Banque Populaire Muhima branch.

Details obtained from ground-breaking investigation show that the two women stayed at the Mille Collines and invoice No. 105620 was forwarded to National Security Service (NSS) External Security Organisation (ESO) for payment. The payment was effected from the NSS-ESO account by cheque number 438099 dated February 25, 2004 and signed by Patrick Karegeya.

With Mr Karegeya's help, Kabuga has been able to continuously evade justice. According to insiders working with International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, investigators uncovered a network involving Mr. Karegeya who always tipped off the fugitive billionaire to run before the agents arrived at his door. 

Kabuga, the man largely responsible for how efficient the genocide was, is still at large thanks to Mr Karegeya. The murder has left some exiles living in South Afric panicking .

SOURCE: GUARDIAN ON SUNDAY