Gen. Kagame (Top) ordered the arrest of Generals
By EMMANUEL GYEZAHO (email the author)
Posted Sunday, January 29 2012 at 00:00
KAMPALA
Rwandan president Paul Kagame has said his four senior army officers who were suspended from the force last week and placed under house arrest “were involved in cases of indiscipline.”
He, however, did not disclose what acts of indiscipline the four men were allegedly involved in. He made the comments yesterday at a news conference marking the conclusion of his three-day state visit to Uganda, the highlight of which was his receipt of three heroes’ medals.
Reacting to a reporter’s question over why the senior officers were arrested, Mr Kagame said while he “didn’t think” there was need to comment about the arrests, “For generals or other people in any country in any system to be held accountable by the system they work within or for, is a normal thing.”
A routine
Lt. Gen. Fred Ibingira, the chief of staff of the Reserve Forces, Brig. Gen. Richard Rutatina, the military intelligence chief, Brig. Gen. Wilson Gumisiriza, commander of the Rwanda Defence Forces 3rd Division, and Col. Dan Munyuza, head of external intelligence, were placed under confinement on January 18.
“It happens every day. It happens everywhere. It happens whenever any individual has to account for this or that,” said Mr Kagame.
“It is in that normal way that two generals and one colonel had to be held accountable. They were involved in cases of indiscipline. These are being investigated by the system itself and I find nothing abnormal or anything beyond that I need to explain.”
Although Rwandan military spokesman Col. Joseph Nzabamwita declined to specify the questionable business engagement, the Colonel ruled out the possibility of the officers could have tapped Congolese gems or whether their arrest was prompted by suspicions of alleged involvement in subversive activity.
Relations with renegade Generals
However, insiders say the three Generals are seen within the Rwandan Defence Forces ranks to have had close working relations with renegade Rwandan generals; Kayumba Nyamwasa (former High Commissioner to India) and Patrick Karegeya (former intelligence chief), both exiled in South Africa while, on the other hand, Col. Munyuza had hitherto been understood to be a Kagame loyalist.
Gen. Nyamwasa has twice survived assassination attempts in South Africa and his wife cited the hand of Kagame’s government in the June 2010 shooting, something Kigali vehemently denied.
egyezaho@ug.nationmedia.com
No comments:
Post a Comment