Felicien Kabuga, the man who once carried the unenviable label as the most wanted man, must be a very grumpy old man these days.
Having to deal with the protective wall he had built around him for over two decades and seeing it tumbling down must have been very difficult to deal with.
With his impending transfer to Arusha, Tanzania, away from the comfort of European detention and medical facilities, his last-ditch stance was a compassionate appeal for the trial to be held in France.
One of his sons-in-law, Leon Habyarimana, who also happens to be one of the two sons of former President Juvenal Habyarimana married to Kabuga’s daughters, went a step further by starting a petition to have the old man stay in France.
All those efforts failed after a French court ruled that Kabuga’s fate should be decided in Arusha. He might have benefitted from many sources in terms of protection as evidence shows.
At the time of his arrest, he was in possession of several genuine passports from countries in the region, but today, Kabuga has become poisoned meat that no one wants to touch.
One thing that he can be assured of though, is the undying support he has among Rwandan exiles and Genocide sympathisers who are the backbone of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda terror FDLR outfit
Despite the setbacks the group continues to suffer in the jungle of the Congo, it still manages to fake appearances as a serious player as exhibited by its congratulatory message to Burundi’s president-elect, Evariste Ndayishimiye.
But all that, including Kabuga’s entire luggage full of antics, are kicks of a dying horse.