Patrick Karegyeya, the Rwandan fugitive living in South Africa and wanted back home to answer serious criminal charges recently held an interview with Robert Mukombozi, a person who was expelled from Rwanda in 2008 and declared persona non grata by the Government of Rwanda.

In his interview that was carried in the Ugandan Observer, Karegyeya attempts to tarnish the government and leadership in Rwanda, claims credit for the liberation of Rwanda in which he played no significant part, and labors to elevate himself to a level he has never attained and never will for that matter. He blasphemes when he attributes the planning of the 1990 Liberation war to non Rwandans and even dares to call upon Rwandans to go to war against their Government.

The claim by Karegyeya that he was part of the core team that planned the 1990 liberation war before the invasion of Rwanda, is simply laughable. It is a naked lie that can only be bought by those who are totally ignorant about the history of the Rwandan Patriotic Front [RPF] and its armed wing, the Rwandan Patriotic Army [RPA].

A mere lieutenant then, Karegyeya was never a member of the RPF/RPA planning team. There is no record of Karegeya’s house serving as a rendezvous for RPF meetings. It is also on record that Karegyeya never held any known appointment in the RPF and in particular, its intelligence and operations structures prior to the 1990 attack on Rwanda.

In fact, even during the liberation war, Karegeya’s contribution remains insignificant. He will be remembered more as a patron of a night club in Kampala and a generous customer to the ladies of the city than he will as a liberator in the national liberation war of Rwanda.

In an attempt to possibly appease President Museveni and some Ugandans, Karegyeya also claims that "Museveni was very instrumental in the planning and subsequent invasion of Rwanda”. What boot licking!

The liberation of Rwanda was planned and executed by Rwandans and only Rwandans. This is the absolute truth that cannot be challenged. While this fact does not require any evidence, Karegyeya should at least be reminded that President Museveni is on record admitting that he did not even know that Rwandans had deserted the National Resistance Army [NRA] and attacked Rwanda until he was called by Gen Mugisha Muntu late at night when he was away in New York.

Reading through Karegyeya’s interview, he wants to construct for himself an image of a revolutionary, an image that he failed to work for during the course of the liberation war and disappointingly even after the liberation war.

Going back to the NRA days, one would wonder why Karegeya kept behind as a recruiting agent instead of going to the front lines like other comrades! It looks this tendency followed him when Rwandan soldiers decided to go home and fight from their homeland. The fellow stayed back again and what he did for the RPA as earlier mentioned was next to nothing!

But in bars, Karegeya would eloquently tell his intelligence exploits how he had stayed behind in Uganda on a specific secret mission, which mission is not known to the senior RPF/RPA cadres. 

In his interview, Karegyeya argues that "proximity is very important” and that "if Kagame had remained in the United States during the 1990-94 Liberation War, he would not be the Rwandan President today”. Karegyeya should have as well added that if Kagame had stayed in Uganda as Karegyeya did, he would not have been the President of Rwanda.

Similarly Karegyeya should be told that if all Rwandan refugees had stayed in their respective countries of asylum, including South Africa, Rwandans would not be enjoying the fruits of liberation. President Kagame’s proximity was in Rwanda where the revolution needed him most.

If Karegyeya has any political ambition of becoming the President of Rwanda, his proximity should be in Rwanda and not South Africa. But of course typical of him, he can stay in South Africa and unleash the dogs of war on Rwanda.

Okay, let’s take him seriously. This is no small joke. Calling for war against Rwanda is criminal. Whether people baptize it as a political war, or otherwise, that is insignificant.

As things stand, Karegeya should be prepared to answer to the people of Rwanda as definitely he will be asked why he dares threaten people with war. And when Rwanda acts in self defense, what will Karegeya and his fellow fugitive say?  

The Government of Rwanda wants Karegyeya back home so that he can answer serious criminal charges. His recent declaration of war is a further evidence of his criminal intentions and it corroborates clearly what the Government of Rwanda has been accusing him of.

For those who may have had some doubts about Karegyeya and Kayumba Nyamwasa’s links with the genocidal FDLR, Karegyeya’s statement may have come as a surprise.

In his interview Karegyeya shamelessly states that he is prepared to support Rwandans who want to fight the government of Rwanda. The declaration by Karegyeya is clear evidence and testimony that the fugitives are ready to support FDLR since it is the only Rwandan group that has taken up arms against the Government of Rwanda. T

The message from the recent demonstration by Rwandan fugitives living in Brussels was indeed revealing, particularly because it corroborates Karegyeya’s statement. The demonstrators in Brussels were chanting slogans in favour of Kayumba Nyamwasa and Victoire Ingabire who has strong links with FDLR.

Karegyeya’s latest utterances cannot be regarded as a mere joke. Neither can they be taken lightly because they constitute a serious crime against the State. The Rwanda Defence Force [RDF] would like to make it categorically clear that those who openly call for war or those who go to war against the Government of Rwanda will be relentlessly pursued and that they should be ready and fully prepared to face the repercussions for their crimes. And when the time for answering comes they should not cry foul.

Lt Col Jill Rutaremara, Defence and Military Spokesman

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