The statement from Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB), delivered via its Twitter account this Thursday, 09 September, was brief and to the point. RIB said it had confined former university lecturer Dr. Christopher Kayumba to preventive detention as it investigated multiple complaints of rape against him by different persons. Currently, he is detained at the Kicukiro RIB station as they finalize his file before handing it to Prosecution as per the law. Those that know Kayumba well aren’t surprised in the least by what has happened to him. “Christopher is just a wreck, who lost control of his life long ago,” said a former work colleague at Rwanda National University in Butare, who requested confidentiality. “In fact, if one were to talk of rape cases or attempted rape of female students by Chris, I don’t think we will know the true extent of his offenses because many will not come forward to report what happened to them!” he said. Others that know Kayumba outside academic circles say that his frequent bouts of violent drunkenness have led to incidents of reported rape. “At times Kayumba would return very drunk close to morning and in one case his maid ran out of the house shouting that he had tried to force her into sex,” said a former neighbor of his in the Gihogere area of Remera. “It is really bad; don’t think his wife divorced him for a small reason!” said the former neighbor. The former university don’s drunken behavior, resulting into fights with police is well known, with viral video of one incident still circulating on WhatsApp chat groups. “But people only know of that particular incident because that’s what was captured on smartphone and went public,” said a journalist familiar with the escapades of Kayumba. He added that what the public doesn’t know of are the many, many altercations whereby Kayumba has gotten into quarrels with police because of drunkenness. “He has broken the law by driving while completely inebriated, and refusing even to comply with orders to get out of his car,” said the journalist. “I can tell you between late 2016 to 2017 he was in and out of the police cells of Kigali because of drunken behavior about half a dozen times. The amounts of fines he had to pay accrued in the millions of francs!” Friends and family of Kayumba have long given up on him. “Even though Chris had an arrogant, insufferable side to him, Rwandan society was ready to accommodate him, and to give him every chance,” said his former colleague. He added: “but when Chris began to hit the bottle, that was when the process of loss of control of his life started. He is a complete uncontrollable yet habitual drinker that, when he drains the first bottle, just can’t stop. Yet the drunker he becomes, the more violent he gets.” It is reported that when Kayumba is in a state of high inebriation, he will fight anyone: police, bouncers, sex workers, boda boda drivers, anyone. “That’s how sad his life is,” another of his friends commented. The friend recalled an incident at MTN Center when a bouncer thoroughly battered the aggressively drunken don, after Kayumba spat on the bouncer. “They had to take Chris to a clinic to bandage him up afterwards,” said the friend. But the most high-profile incident of this aggressive drunken behavior happened in December 2019 at Kigali International Airport. That time, Kayumba had arrived late for a flight but then tried to force his way through Immigration. Eyewitnesses say he was very drunk. The airport police tried to restrain him, telling him they could help find him another flight, but to no avail. Eyewitness reports say that a highly agitated Kayumba then began shouting and creating an alarming scene, then he yelled: “if you don’t let me on the flight I am going to shut down the airport!” Sources in Prosecution say this was a threat to public security in a very sensitive place. “Kigali International Airport is the gateway to Rwanda, and Kayumba’s threat was of a very serious nature.” An investigation was launched into the incident that led to the arrest, and prosecution of the lecturer in court, which led to a one-year jail term. Kayumba served it in Mageragere. Now he is in trouble with the law again, which follows a clear pattern of self-inflicted woes down the years.
