Kenya envoy speaks out on Kabuga saga

Kenya’s High Commissioner to Rwanda, Makena Muchiri yesterday responded to a documentary aired by Nation TV, last Sunday, linking some unidentified officials within the government security circles to Felicien Kabuga, a Rwandan fugitive wanted for his role in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.According to the seven-month investigation, the Genocide fugitive has for the last 14 years been under protection of top security officials in the Kenyan government.Kabuga is on the list of 11 Genocide suspects sought by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), with a $5 million (Sh390 million) bounty on his head. In a telephone interview last evening, Muchiri maintained that Kabuga is not on Kenyan soil.“Rwanda has always requested the Kenyan government to investigate the matter and we have always cooperated,” Muchiri said.The documentary raised dust, after showing pictures of a man depicted as the wanted fugitive in a blue T-shirt with visible Kenyan court of arms.Muchiri added: “Our position has not changed and Kabuga is not in Kenya to the best of our knowledge. If anyone has information that can lead to his arrest, they should hand him over and get the US$5 million.”Asked whether her government was willing to verify claims in the documentary that suggest Kabuga could still be hiding in Kenya and has instigated the killings of Kenyan Nationals to erase evidence of his whereabouts, Muchiri said she was not willing to comment further on the matter.The documentary also uncovered shocking new details about Michael Sarunei, a Kenyan soldier who is alleged to have been in charge of Kabuga’s security and has since gone missing, and according to a story published in The Daily Nation newspaper; it is suspected that he was murdered on Kabuga’s orders.However, Muchiri blamed Kenya’s NTV for producing a “sensational” documentary before verifying the facts.“As you know, the person who was allegedly portrayed as Kabuga in the documentary went to police and said he was not Kabuga. Although the press has grown and enjoys freedom, they should try to write credible stories without affecting other people’s lives,” she observed.On Thursday last week, a former Kenyan civil servant, Daniel Muthee Ngeera, 58, now a businessman, told Kenyan police that his picture was used in the documentary portraying him as Felicien Kabuga.Muchiri said Rwanda and Kenya enjoy excellent relations and very many business ventures are in the pipeline. Even in the past, she added, the government of Kenya collaborated and deported Genocide suspects captured in Kenya.“We always work towards maintaining this credible relationship and nothing will change this healthy partnership.” The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda issued an international arrest warrant for Kabuga in August 1997, charging him with 11 counts, including conspiracy and complicity to commit Genocide against the Tutsi.Kabuga has been on the run since his indictment for his role in the Genocide. The Kenyan Government has repeatedly denied claims that Kabuga, whose bank accounts have been frozen, is in the country.In 1998, an ICTR team raided a Nairobi house and allegedly found a note indicating that the fugitive, who escaped arrest, had been tipped off.The US and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda have in the past insisted that Kabuga has enjoyed a safe haven in Kenya.