Senior FDLR officer defects, hospitalised

WESTERN PROVINCE RUSIZI - A senior officer in the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) was over the weekend repatriated from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and admitted at Gihundwe hospital in Kamembe Sector of Rusizi District. According to immigration officials, Major Jean Pierre Ndayambaje alias Bayikare, 45, was brought on Saturday, December 13 via the Rusizi 1 border post by the UN Mission in the DR Congo (MONUC) in collaboration with UNHCR. Ndayambaje came with one of his escorts, Jacques Uwumuhizi alias Kanjawumve (23). Security organs at the border told The New Times that the officer arrived in critical condition and they rushed him to Gihundwe hospital. Speaking in a frail voice yesterday morning at Gihundwe hospital, Ndayambaje said that they have been living in Mwenga areas in DRC since 1994. He said he joined FDLR--a rebel outfit made up of elements responsible for the 1994 Genocide in 1994. The FDLR has been instrumental in the humanitarian catastrophe prevailing in the Eastern DRC since 1994, killing and raping women among other atrocities. Ndayambaje added that he fell sick in early July this year but failed to get money to go for medical treatment. He also said that before his repatriation, he had been admitted at Panzi hospital in Bukavu town but decided to return home after the disease persisted. Ndayambaje, a former resident of Kabaya sector in Ngororero District, also in the Western Province, further said that he has been trying to come back to Rwanda but the efforts have been frustrated by what he called top officials of the FDLR. “Though I am still in poor condition due to sickness, I thank the Government of Rwanda on the reception we have received ever since we crossed the border. I was immediately rushed to this hospital and this really shows that there is total peace and hospitality in the country irrespective of who you are or where you come from,” Ndayambaje said during the interview. His escort,Uwumuhizi, said that he is a former resident of Gishyita commune now in Gishyita Sector in Karongi District and added that he joined FDLR when he was a 9-year old in 1994. A doctor at the hospital who preferred to remain anonymous said that they are planning to discuss with the Rwanda Demobilization and Reintegration Commission (RDRC) on how to transfer the latter to Kanombe Military Hospital in Kigali as he is still in critical condition. Ends

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Senior FDLR officer defects, hospitalised