Was Rwigyema assassinated?

Twenty four year ago tomorrow, Maj Gen Fred Rwigyema was shot dead in the battlefield at Nyabwenshogozi Hill about six miles inside Rwanda from its Kagitumba frontier with Uganda. The Rwandese Patriotic Army (RPA) commander, Rwigyema became the first death registered in the rebel ranks.

Rwigyema died on the second day of the war fighting to return home since 1959 when the Tutsi fled Rwanda as refugees. The bullet from the Rwanda government soldier who had been shooting at them hit Rwigyema through the head. He fell and died instantly.

Three weeks later, Dr Peter Bayingana and Maj Chris Bunyenyezi were also killed.
After Rwigyema’s death, his youthful friend and fellow combatant in Uganda during the Luweero bush war, Maj Paul Kagame (now General and President of Rwanda) was recalled from a military course in America to take over the devastated RPA command.

While it is indisputable that Rwigyema was shot dead in the morning of the second day of the war, who pulled the trigger, however, has since remained contestable.
While the official version from the RPF is that he was killed by the enemy bullet while on the front line, there is a persistent contrary allegation that Rwigyema was in fact assassinated and that the conspiracy to eliminate him was instigated by a fellow RPF senior commander Maj Peter Bayingana who conspired with Maj Chris Bunyenyezi.

From the RPF press statement, Bayingana and Bunyenyezi died in an ambush staged by the government forces as the two were headed for a meeting with the Rwandan forces delegation to start the cessation of hostilities between the two fighting groups which would lead to peace talks. As such, it can be said that Bayingana and Bunyenyezi were betrayed by the Rwanda government, especially if it is true that the said plan to have peace talks was going on through DR Congo’s Ambassador to Uganda [When Ugandan journalists met Lt Col Reuben Ikondere, the Commanding Officer of the 322 Brigade in the south western Uganda near Kagitumba in October, and asked him questions about the RPF, he said: “In fact, the RPF and Zairean Ambassador are supposed to meet me here anytime now, you can ambush them and ask them these questions.”].

A Ugandan veteran of the RPF war, retired Major Okwir Rabwoni also concurs with President Kagame on the death of the two majors. “They were killed in an ambush laid by the Rwanda forces commanded by Col Nsabimana [Deogratius]. They laid a kilometre long ambush. From where we were [RPA], we had huge bumps followed by heavy shootings. And we knew they had been hit. When we reached [the scene], you could see that there had been heavy fighting. Rwaboni also added: “The government of Rwanda even composed a song about that battle praising their army – saying that the RPA came and fought them ready and prepared…. the government forces had deployed heavy weaponry all camouflaged including APCs [Anti-Personnel Carriers]’. And Rwaboni also admits that there was a first huge RPA defeat both in arms and fighters suffered, since October 1 when the war started.

Rwaboni was a sergeant when he and others deserted the NRA in 1990 to fight in the RPF war – but he returned as a Major in the Rwanda Defence Forces after the war.
Although in the interview with the Weekly Topic, Kagame did not mention the differences that existed between RPF members, two highly placed Ugandans who preferred to remain anonymous said Dr Bayingana was arrogant. He informed whoever listened that he was a qualified medical doctor.

They also added that Bayingana and lawyer Charles Kabanda thought that they were well educated, hence better placed to be the next president and vice president of Rwanda after the RPF/A had routed Habyarimana’s regime. This cannot be entirely dismissed, because, it became an open secret especially within the RPF ranks after Kabanda and Bayingana had secretly sent some RPA fighters into Akagera National Park inside Rwanda without the knowledge of RPA’s most senior soldier and commander, General Rwigyema. If those fighters who had been smuggled into the Akagera park awaiting reinforcement in ammunition and numbers as promised had been discovered by the government forces, and in the ensuing battles fought and captured power in Kigali, under what circumstances would Rwigyema and Kagame and others have returned to Rwanda?

An antagonist believes if he punches you and later apologises, he will have won. For, he will have humiliated you first. However, protagonists also believe that sometimes you take a punch to win; because, if you punch the innocent and he does not retaliate, you will be exposed as an evil doer to the world. When Kabanda and Bayingana secretly smuggled some RPF fighters inside Rwanda, they had betrayed the RPF spirit and also risked the Rwandan Return Mission especially if Rwandan intelligence had known it and captured them.

Besides, the result of what they did could have led to the “demotion” of Rwigyema in the NRM government. During the military reshuffle of November 26, 1989, Rwigyema was dropped as the deputy minister of State for Defence (to Museveni) in Uganda’s cabinet. His friend Maj-Gen Salim Saleh was relived of his duties as the army commander and replaced by Col Mugisha Muntu who was also promoted to Major-General. Rwigyema was to go for a military course according to the press release from State House. Was it a coincidence that Rwigyema and Saleh were relieved of their duties as military officers after some RPA fighters had escaped to Rwanda? It took three months to force the RPA fighters back to Uganda, in fact after serious threats were made that they would be exposed to the government of Rwanda if they did not pull back. This is also mentioned in the President Kagame’s book A Thousand Hills authored by journalist Stephen Kinzer.

But also, thanks to Rwigyema’s shrewdness with his best friend Kagame, he did not go for the military course. Instead Kagame went. Although president Kagame states in A Thousand Hills how the two planned so that Rwigyema would not go and said that it was to let Rwigyema to keep planning for their exit, it is undeniable that if Rwigyema had gone for the course, he would have found the RPA long gone. And the rift within the RPF/A would have widened along the Rwigyema-Kagame and Bayingana-Kabanda camps.

Indeed, it was very difficult to convince the Commander-In-Chief that those RPA fighters had in July 1989 crossed into Rwanda without Rwigyema’s knowledge. But also, Museveni’s attempt to pre-empt RPF/A return could have inadvertently been disastrous for the Rwandan refugees, if he had insisted Rwigyema went for that course. Meanwhile, In October 1989 after those who had camped inside the Akagera Park had returned, Kabanda, the first RPF chairman was arrested and detained first at Basiima House in Kampala before he was transferred to Katabi military prison in Entebbe and was only set free in October 1990. No charges were preferred against him and neither was his arrest was made public. If even there were several charges that could have been put against Kabanda, it was only in the interest of the RPF to keep Kabanda incommunicado.

For, taking him to courts of law would have undoubtedly exposed the RPF plan to the enemy government in Rwanda and the world.
Although Bayingana was forced to apologise, it is not clear if a cordial relationship existed between him and Rwigyema especially, after Kabanda was kept incommunicado yet Bayingana was closer to Kabanda than to Rwigyema as far establishment in the RPF ranks went. In 1998, Kabanda parted ways with the RPF and joined the Democratic Green Party which he has since abandoned although he claims to be in the opposition in Rwanda.

The rumour
Despite the allegations, none has ever clarified how Rwigyema’s death was executed. Nonetheless, the “rumour” has stuck. Sometimes, in some situations – especially if it precedes unclear events, questions will abound and be asked, repeatedly so. However, such rumours, sometimes can be generated even by the enemy within or antagonist and propagandists as well. Such situations are common in war or any other area of conflict. It can be used as a propaganda tool intended to divide, disorganise and demoralse the enemy. No wonder rebel leaders such John Garang (SPLA), Yoweri Museveni (NRA) Paul Kagame (RPA) were “declared dead” by propagandists several times only to resurrect sometime after the proclamation by the state agents.

Nonetheless, the allegation has persisted that the death of Major Bayingana and Major Bunyenyezi’s death on October 23, 1990 was a staged ambush in vengeance of the duo’s involvement in Rwigyema’s death. The two died in an ambush between Gabiro and Nyagatare on Kagitumba-Kigali high way.

In October 1990, the Weekly Topic journalist, Charles Onyango Obbo went to the RPF held zone inside northern Rwanda and met with the new rebel leader Kagame whom he asked about the circumstances surrounding the death of the three RPF soldiers. And, on November 6, 1990, the Weekly Topic wrote: “This writer [Obbo] asked Major Kagame on speculations that Major-General Fred Rwigyema, Major, Dr Peter Bayingana and Major Chris Bunyenyezi had not died in battle but as a result of power struggle within RPA”. And Kagame’s response was:

“The reasons for speculations are mainly to be found in the background before the war started. But the differences were resolved well before the war.” Another RPA commander said: “Some of the differences which were resolved included an incident in which a group of 30 people attempted to wage a war against Rwanda last year. The group supported by Major Bayingana was motivated by opportunism as they wanted to pre-empt the RPF attack.” The journalist was also told that the group which had pitched camp in the Akagera National Park in Rwanda claimed it was directly loyal to Charles Kabanda a lawyer and also believed that Bayingana was their overall leader.

The group which had been in the bush for three months was however recalled by the RPA/F officials back to Uganda and Kabanda was punished. Later, a meeting was convened where Bayingana was grilled and reprimanded before he apologised, the journalist was told.

While Major Kagame vehemently also dismissed speculation that the death of the three RPA officers was caused by internal conflicts, he asserted that the death of the three officers should be viewed as merely bad luck. Besides, Major Kagame’s attribution, the paper wrote: “But other sources within the RPF maintained ‘Fred died of intrigues and all those who thought they would disorganise us from within have been taken care of. We are now going to move smoothly’.”

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