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Exiled Kagame critic Robert Kabera found beheaded near Kampala
The former Rwandan army sergeant major, who ran a YouTube channel attacking President Paul Kagame, was found dead on the outskirts of the Ugandan capital; his head has not been recovered.
Key points
- Robert Kabera, 50, a former Rwandan army sergeant major, was found beheaded near Kampala.
- Ugandan police said on Monday his head had not been recovered.
- His YouTube channel critical of Paul Kagame had about 144,000 subscribers.
Robert Kabera, an exiled former Rwandan soldier who became an outspoken critic of President Paul Kagame, has been found beheaded on the outskirts of Kampala, the Ugandan capital.
Residents found the 50-year-old’s body over the weekend. Kituuma Rusoke, the Ugandan police spokesperson, said on Monday that his head had not yet been recovered. Police have not named any suspect or announced an arrest. His family said he had gone to inspect a construction site about 45 km outside Kampala.
Kabera, a former sergeant major in the Rwandan army, was not known as a dissident while in uniform. He fled Rwanda after being accused of sexual assault, which he denied, and sought asylum in Uganda, saying he faced political persecution. In exile he built a following as a musician and YouTuber. His channel, Major Robert TV, has about 144,000 subscribers and more than 800 videos, many attacking Kagame’s government, including a song praising the opposition figure Victoire Ingabire.
His widow, Jeanne d’Arc Rwigema Uwizeye, said in a written message that she feared for her family. “It is scary. I feel crazy, the children and I don’t have security,” she wrote.
The exiled opposition Rwanda National Congress called for a “thorough investigation”. The Rwandan government has not commented.
Kagame has led Rwanda since the aftermath of the 1994 genocide, in which about 800,000 people, mostly Tutsi, were killed, and is widely credited with the country’s recovery. But Rwandan authorities have long been accused of targeting opponents abroad. In 2014 Patrick Karegeya, a former intelligence chief and a co-founder of the Rwanda National Congress, was found dead in a Johannesburg hotel room.