They were losing the war. The interim government that oversaw the Genocide against the Tutsi after the death of President Juvenal Habyarimana had first retreated to Gitarama in the south. But continuous harassment by the Rwanda Patriotic Army forced it to retreat even further and it set camp in Gisenyi at the Zairean border which later reverted to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

With their backs against the wall, the Genocidaires were desperate until Kabuga made a grand entrance. On May 20, 1994, Kabuga announced the creation of a fundraising task force of which he was the chairman.

He and a few other business people had managed to raise slightly over Rwf4 million towards the war effort but promised more when banks resumed operations. 26 years to the dot, on May 20, 2020, Felicien Kabuga appeared before French judicial authorities.

Kabuga was indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal (ICTR) for his role in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi but had been able to elude capture until last Saturday when he was arrested in France.

The fact that he was found with genuine passports from over a dozen countries is an indication that the man’s influence was far-reaching.  He has been moving effortlessly around Europe and no one laid a finger on him despite having a $five million bounty on his head.

At 85 or 87 according to some sources, Kabuga is at the end of his tether and there are founded fears that he will take his secrets to the grave.

So, the question that comes to mind; who was Kabuga’s Godfather or Godfathers? He definitely had help from high places and that should be the next enigma to unravel.