WESTERN PROVINCE

RUSIZI — A senior officer in the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) who recently defected and was admitted at Gihundwe Hospital in Rusizi district, has been transferred to Kanombe Military Hospital.

Doctors said, Major Jean Pierre Ndayambaje was transferred in an Ambulance, after his sickness persisted. He was diagnosed with cancer, according to medical officials.

"Ndayambaje’s health condition couldn’t be maintained here at Gihundwe hospital, so we refereed him to Kanombe Military Hospital for further medication,” medical officials said last Friday.

Major Ndayambaje was repatriated on Saturday, December 13 through Rusizi 1 border together with one of his escorts, Jacque Uwumuhizi aged 23.

They were brought by the UN Mission in the DR Congo (MONUC) in conjunction with UNHCR, according to immigration officials at the border.

Ndayambaje told The New Times in earlier interview, at the hospital, that they have been living in Mwenga areas in DRC since 1994 when he joined FDLR- a rebel outfit made up of elements responsible for the 1994 Genocide against Tutsis.

He also said that he fell sick in early July this year but failed to get money to go for medical treatment. Before his repatriation, he said, he had been admitted at Panzi Hospital in Bukavu town but decided to return home after his sickness persisted.

Ndayambaje is a former resident of Kabaya sector in Ngororero District, also in the Western Province, while his escort Uwumuhizi is a former resident of Gishyita commune in Karongi district. The latter joined FDLR at 9 years in 1994.

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