MUHANGA - Alex Kwifasha, a Muhanga District Councilor, has allegedly fled to escape a 19-year sentence for genocide-related crimes.

Security officials said that Kwifasha was reportedly sighted in a neighboring country, and investigations have been launched.

Kwifasha was also the Director of Bulinga Secondary School in Muhanga.

During a meeting with the business community on March 11, The Mayor of Muhanga, Yvonne Mutakwasuku, confirmed that the counsellor had been sentenced in absentia, but did not divulge more details.

The business community demanded more explanations on Kwifasha’s whereabouts in order to quell rumours that had been spreading in the community since last week.

"The fact is that Kwifasha was sentenced by Gacaca courts after he had left the country on medical grounds. I cannot comment whether he will come back on not, that is not predictable,” the Mayor said.   The Bulinga Gacaca court recently sentenced Kwifasha to 19 years in Jail for allegedly participating in the killings at a roadblock in the former Bulinga Commune.

Reliable sources indicate that he had earlier denied the allegations saying that no one was killed at any of the alleged roadblocks.

However, new testimonies from convicted inmates indicated that some people were killed at the roadblocks.

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