Exiled Rwandan critic discovered beheaded in Uganda

An exiled opponent of Rwanda’s government was found decapitated near Kampala, Uganda, according to police, who said the investigation is ongoing. Ugandan authorities said on Monday they are probing the “murder of a male adult (around 50), whose head was cut off, and up to now, the head has not yet been recovered”, spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke told reporters. Relatives identified the body as that of Robert Kabera.

The remains were discovered in Luwala, a village on the outskirts of Kampala, and police believe the killing occurred late on October 16 or early on October 17. Kabera, a former major sergeant who left Rwanda several years ago, had been living in Uganda. While he was not outspoken during his military service, he later became a vocal critic of President Paul Kagame. Kabera ran a YouTube channel called “Major Robert TV”, which had 144,000 subscribers, and he posted a song praising opposition leader Victoire Ingabire, a rare dissenting voice in Rwanda who has faced repeated imprisonment.

In Uganda, Kabera’s brother Victor Agaba told AFP that “Robert had no issues with anyone”. He added, “Our problem comes from home… The army created a criminal case against him. It was a witch‑hunt.” Kabera was declared a fugitive after leaving Rwanda and faced accusations of corrupting a minor, charges he denied.

Rwanda’s government has long been accused of targeting opponents of President Kagame, who has led the country since 2000, following the 1994 genocide that killed around 800,000 people, mostly from the Tutsi minority. Kabera is not the first exile to meet a violent end. In 2021, former Rwandan lieutenant Revocat Karemangingo was shot dead in Mozambique amid suspicions of backing an opposition group. That same year, outspoken dissident Seif Bamporiki was killed in South Africa, and in 2014 former intelligence chief Patrick Karegeya was strangled in a South African hotel room. Former general Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa, a co‑founder of the Rwanda National Congress opposition party, has survived several alleged assassination attempts. The Rwandan government denies involvement in any of these incidents.