By Robert mugabe and agencies
Rwanda’s former army chief is reported to be seeking asylum in South Africa.
Sources said yesterday that Lt. Gen. Kayumba Nyamwasa fled Rwanda through Uganda before escaping to Kenya from where he flew to South Africa. The sources added that Nyamwasa left Kenya on Sunday.
Foreign affairs minister Sam Kutesa said Nyamwasa was not in Uganda.
“Our security forces informed me that he came through a smuggling route and went through to Kenya and he is believed to be in South Africa,” Kutesa told Vision Voice FM.
The embattled diplomat fled Rwanda on Friday at the end of a one-week annual retreat for Rwandan diplomats abroad.
Kayumba apparently left to report back to his duty station in India but escaped to Uganda through smuggler’s routes in Kagitumba and linked with his driver across the border.
Kayumba is said to have spent a few hours in Uganda, contacted some friends and relatives before heading to Malaba, through what Ugandan intelligence has called “a non-designated route” to Kenya.
“We can categorically say that he is not here now. Both Kampala and Kigali are now sure on this,” said foreign affairs permanent secretary James Mugume.
Rwanda’s ambassador to Uganda, Frank Mugambage, yesterday said: “We have communicated to the region, including Kenya and Interpol, because his crime is serious.”
A statement issued by Rwanda’s foreign affairs ministry announced that Nyamwasa was no longer its envoy to India.
It added that before he fled, “Nyamwasa was questioned by Rwandan investigative authorities on serious criminal charges.”
Local media reported that he was linked to the opposition Green Party. Two weeks ago, Umuseso, a local tabloid, reported that the general was on strained terms with the authorities to the extent that no government official or even fellow soldiers attended the funeral of his mother recently.
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