Rwanda's top deplomat in Holland on run

By Robert Mugabe and agencies

Kigali: Reliable sources in the ministry of foreign affairs say that Ambassador Jean Pierre
Bizimana of Rwanda to the Netherlands is seeking political asylum in
the Republic of Ireland.

Bizimana failed to turn up for the recently concluded Ambassadors’
retreat in Kigali last week because he feared arrest,for the his links with controvertial polititian Ingabire Victoire Umuhoza both accused of having links with FDRL according to
reliable sources.

The sources indicate that Ambassador Bizimana got into trouble because
of alleged links to controversial opposition leader of yet to be registered party FDU-INKINGI of the Ingabire Victoire
Umuhoza.

Ingabire denies links
with him but she told 256news.com that, “the Ambassador is being blamed for falling to help assassins
sent by Kigali to kill me shortly before my return.”

Other reasons advanced are that, Bizimana helped Ingabire and her
family to acquire travel documents without authorization from Kigali.
A source in the West who is aware of Rwandan politics said the two
(Ingabire and Bizimana) share close kinship.

Louise Mushikiwabo, Rwandan Foreign Affairs Minister was not reached when seeking
clarification.

Ingabire, who this week caused a stir by seeking a temporary
asylum in British High Commission in Kigali
claims that her impact is being felt by the regime in Kigali
“if Ambassadors are beginning to flee because of me.”

Ingabire lived in Holland before returning to Rwanda mid-January this year.

Rwandans in asylum to lose refugee status by next year

Agencies

Kigali: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is reviewing a comprehensive strategy which seeks to end the Rwandese refugee situation globally by the end of 2011.

UNHCR recognizes that Rwanda has undergone profound positive changes in the aftermath of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and finds no reasons to still hold Rwandans in asylum as refugees beyond next year.

According to Honorine Sommet-Lange, the Deputy Representative in charge of protection at UNHCR, a road map of actions leading to the cessation of Rwandan refugee status is currently in its final stages.

“We will work closely with the Rwandan authorities and the concerned countries of asylum to implement the initiatives to give component to our strategy,” Lange said in an interview.

She explained that a set of parameters and indicators would be worked out and agreed with the concerned states for the cessation of refugee status coming into effect as of 31^st December 2011.

She added that despite the declaration, refugees seeking exemption from application of the cessation should be afforded the opportunity to put forward the specific reasons for which they continue to fear returning home.

Government has welcomed the move saying, that after three years of hard work to prove ability over its nationals, the efforts are finally paying off.

“Last October it was agreed that by 2011a cessation clause should be in place and the development is positive. The ministry is finalizing procedures which will be subjected to another review in September,” James Musoni, Local Government Minister said.

UNHCR Statistics show that at least 75,530 Rwandan refugees live in some 40 countries countrywide.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is home to most Rwandan refugees in Africa followed by Uganda and Zambia while France, UK and Belgium top the European list of host countries.

In 2002 voluntary repatriation was enhanced and a total of 112,923 refugees have since returned.

Gen Kayumba defected and fled the country

By Robert Mugabe

Kigali: An influential career soldier, diplomat and most recently linked to the troubled Green Party, Lt. Gen. Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa is against back in the news for all the wrong reasons.

Government says he is “on the run” in Uganda – a neighbour with which Rwanda almost went to war.
A government communiqué on Friday evening said the embattled Rwandan diplomat to India and renowned ex-army chief no longer represents Rwanda in Delhi with immediate effect.
the influential, General Kayumba is also sought for crimes committed back home, according to the brief communiqué, also read on state TV and Radio.

The Government says he is in Uganda, but does not say how and why he got there. The statement does not also say which crimes he supposed to answer for.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has apparently also started behind-the-scenes maneuvers to have him extradited to Rwanda to answer for the yet unspecified charges, according to the government communiqué.

Last week, the soft-spoken General was in the country along with fellow other envoys for the annual ambassadors’ retreat organised by the Foreign Affairs Ministry. The line-minister Louise Mushikiwabo opened and closed the two-day meeting.

It is not yet clear if he returned to his posting in Delhi before fleeing or simply travelled to Uganda but its said that during government retreat Gen Kayumba slept at his room and it was reported to his boss that he did not sleep there.

Green Party allegation

The General has had his fair share of controversy. Most recently, almost all the local newspapers which brand themselves as ‘independent’ reported that a top secret dossier had been compiled by the intelligence community detailing all people behind the trouble-ridden Green Party of Rwanda.

Among those named also includes Senators, the Police Commissioner General Emmanuel Gasana and several other top former and current government officials. Perhaps the biggest shock was the naming of a senior aide to the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, by the names of Dr. John Nagenda.

Among the tens of people named in the controversial dossier – to which government has not commented, or even any of the people named, only Dr. Nagenda, said to be of Rwandan origin, has responded - denying any links to the Green Party.

However, he confirmed that he is an uncle to the Green Party leader Mr. Frank Habineza, for who he even paid tuition at some point.

Army chief

Before the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) rebels captured power in 1994, Colonel Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa was the Commanding Officer of the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) in the rebel ranks. He would be brought in to battle the ousted government army and interahamwe for several years. Brigade 221 which Nyamwasa headed managed the war-torn northern Rwanda.

In January 1998, then Colonel Kayumba Nyamwasa was appointed army chief of staff replacing then Colonel Samuel Kanyemera. He would become Major General and later Lt. General. Those still in the army ranks describe him as a very strict disciplinarian, but likable officer.

During the dark days after the ex-army and interahamwe militias had been forced out of Rwanda into neighboring Zaire – now DR Congo, General Nyamwasa camped in the heart of the rebel zone in northern Rwanda.

As government struggled to contain the rebel incursions between 1996 to around 1999, General Kayumba was said to have been personally overseeing the war effort. At some point in January 1998, he told the BBC that "We have the means. We have the will. We will kill until they lose their appetite for war.”

And indeed, following the second invasion of DRC by Rwandan forces in 1998 up until now, the interahamwe – now known largely as the FDLR have not been able to strike on Rwandan territory.

President Paul Kagame – then vice president and Defense Minister, up until early 2000, was also a major brain behind the country’s military successes against the rebels.

Sacked

In 2001, General Nyamwasa was relieved of his duties, replaced briefly by exiled General Bem Emmanuel Habyarimana, an ex-FAR officer who was also later replaced by current full General James Kabarebe when Habyarimana become Defense Minister. General Kayumba was sent on training in the UK.

In November 2002, government redeployment returned General Nyamwasa as Head of Security Services – described as coordinating the internal and external security apparatus.

Two years later, the General was posted to India as the country’s envoy – a post he held until Friday.

Rubavu mayor resigns

By Robert Mugabe

The Mayor of Rubavu in the Western Province, Pierre Celestin Twagirayezu, has handed in his resignation letter to the District Advisory Council citing “personal reasons”, RM reports .

A source within the council told this our reporter that the Mayor’s letter had been received and the district council was still “looking into the matter.”

The Governor of the Western Province, Celestin Kabahizi, said he had heard about the Mayor’s resignation but he had not yet received a formal communication.

Twagirayezu could not be reached by press time to give details as to why he was resigning. A meeting is scheduled today between the Governor and other senior officials to discuss the issue.

A source who spoke on condition of anonymity said the Mayor’s resignation was long overdue as he was criticized for mismanagement of district.

“This man did not put into practice last year’s decision by a Government retreat to clean up Gisenyi town. He was also involved in illegal sacking of local authorities and recently, survived being forced out by the advisory council over serious mismanaging of the district,” the source said.

Last week during a meeting with the Governor and the Resettlement Commission headed by Maj.Gen. Fred Ibingira, Twagirayezu was strongly criticized for failing to find a place for residents who were evacuated from Gishwati Forest.