Kagame Made General Karake Disappear

Lt Gen Rtd Emmanuel Karenzi Karake

By David Himbara

General Karenzi Karake, former chief of National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS), former deputy commander of AU/UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), and former Security and Defence Advisor to President Paul Kagame has disappeared.

Prominent people keep disappearing in Kagame’s Rwanda. Media in Rwanda is silent about this. The source of the news on the disappearances is outside Rwanda.

The source of the news about the disappearances is the Ugandan online newspaper Chimpreports. According to Chimpreports, Karake disappeared at the same time as Dennis Karera — a former military/police officer-turned businessman. The families of the disappeared have no idea where these men are. Rwandan security organs say they do not have these two.

President Paul Kagame and Dennis Karera (extreme right) in happier times at the launch of the Kigali Heights shopping mall in 2016.

Chimpreports is suggesting that the disappearance of Karake and Karera is connected to Rwanda’s hostility toward Uganda:

”Karera and Karake, who have been friends since their time in the early days of the RPF struggle that brought President Paul Kagame to power, are said to have made discomforting remarks Rwanda’s attitude towards Uganda.

In their alleged meeting, they reportedly said Uganda and Rwanda were so interconnected hence the need to maintain good bilateral relations.”

Who is the next to disappear in Kagame’s Rwanda?

Kagame’s Rwanda is a becoming an even scarier place than before. The question is who disappears next. If Karake, the former chief of National Intelligence and Security Services, former deputy commander of AU/UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur, and former Security and Defence Advisor to Kagame can disappear, who is safe?One can only imagine the mood in the Rwandan ruling elite, not least the justice sector led by Minister Johnston Busingye who happens to be Dennis Karera’s brother. Busingye is now the minister of injustice.