KIGALI - The media fraternity yesterday condemned the murder of one of its members, Jean Leonard Rugambage, deputy editor of Umuvugizi Newspaper, who was gunned down Thursday night outside his home.

The Media High Council (MHC) and the Association of Rwandan Journalists (ARJ), yesterday issued statements condemning the shooting in Nyakabanda, on the outskirts of the city and called for thorough investigations into the matter.

"The Media High Council strongly condemns the murder of Jean Leonard Rugambage, a Rwandan journalist that occurred on the night of Thursday June 24, 2010,” a statement signed by the chairman of the Board of Directors, Arthur Asiimwe read.

"The Media High Council calls upon judicial authorities to conduct a thorough investigation in to this case and bring to justice those responsible”.

On his part, Gaspard Safari, the chairman of ARJ, said that it was unfortunate that one of their members could be murdered in cold blood.

"We call upon everyone responsible including the police and judiciary to quickly investigate this murder; Journalists want to know who is behind this,” he said.

"We expect, in a week or less, to see a thorough investigative report detailing who exactly is behind this barbaric act,” Safari said.

According to witnesses, Rugambage was shot at close range as he was about to enter his home by an unidentified gunman who fled from the scene. Police has not yet identified the motive behind the killing.

According to Police Spokesperson Supt. Eric Kayiranga, the police is doing everything to trace the murderers and the motive behind the killing.

"It is unfortunate. He was shot and died on the spot. We tried to get to the scene as fast as we could but the gunman had fled in a car. No one has been arrested or linked to this act but the police is doing everything in its powers to trace the killers,” Kayiranga said.

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