Kagame Has Imprisoned Christopher Kayumba who Predicted his Arrest When he launched the Rwandese Platform for Democracy

By David Himbara

We pray for Dr Christopher Kayumba who is now on hunger strike inside General Paul Kagame’s dungeon. In a country where even former Kagame’s staffers turn up dead inside police and military prisons, Kayumba’s life is in real danger. Kagame’s personal physician, Dr Emmanuel Gasakure, and Kagame’s director of finance, Kalisa Mupende, perished under custody.

When he launched his Rwandese Platform for Democracy (RPD), Dr Christopher Kayumba informed Rwandans in an open letter that he knew he would be arrested by the regime of General Paul Kagame. These are Kayumba’s words delivered on March 30, 2021: “By launching RPD, we knew we could face jail or worse. Together with others, we decided that, instead of living in fear, it was better to speak up and face the consequences.” As predicted, the Kagame regime arrested Kayumba on September 9, 2021. A day after he was detained over rape allegations, Kayumba went on hunger strike, and vowed he will not eat in protest over the trumped up charges.

We pray for Kayumba who is now on hunger strike inside Kagame’s dungeon. In a country where even former Kagame’s staffers turn up dead inside police and military prisons, Kayumba’s life is in real danger. Kagame’s personal physician, Dr Emmanuel Gasakure, and Kagame’s director of finance, Kalisa Mupende, perished under custody. Gasakure was murdered in a police cell in Kigali, Rwanda, on Feb 25, 2015. Mupende died in a military cell on September 20, 2019.