Rwandan President Paul Kagame. Kigali wants Lieutenant Colonel Ngabo back to answer charges of alleged terrorism in connection with bomb blasts which rocked the country early this year an accusation he has vehemently denied. Photo/FILE
By KEZIO-MUSOKE DAVID NATION Correspondent
Posted Sunday, August 22 2010 at 19:42
Posted Sunday, August 22 2010 at 19:42
In Summary
Major purge: Economic progress amid misery
- Purge: Lt Col Ngabo is a former commnader of peacekeeping forces in Darfur.
- He is the brother of general Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa, who was chief of staff until 2001 and went into exile in South Africa in February.
- Nyamwasa is accused of being behind a series of grenade attacks in Kigali, the last of which killed two people on August 11.
- Insecurity and political repression have been on the rise in Rwanda after presidential elections early this month, which incumbent Paul Kagame won by a big margin.
- Despite the purge, the international community has praised Rwanda for its rapid recovery after the genocide of 16 years ago.
 Image via Wikipedia |
| Kigali Suburb Slum |
KIGALI, Sunday
The Rwandan army has arrested the brother of a renegade general on charges of ‘‘individual criminal liability.’’
Rwnfa Defence Force said it had seized Lieutenant Colonel Rugigana Ngabo, whose brother General Kayumba Nyamwasa, was shot recently in South Africa recently in a suspected assassination attempt.
Without saying what “individual criminal liability” means the RDF said on Sunday that Lt-Col Ngabo was being investigated for involving himself in activities related to insecurity.
Army spokesman Lt Col Jill Rutaremara told the local press on Sunday evening that, “The RDF on Friday arrested Lt Col Rugigana Ngabo because of his engagement in activities related to insecurity and is currently being held by the military.”
Though he didn’t give details the army spokesperson added that Ngabo’s arrest had nothing to do with his relationship to Nyamwasa who continues to live in exile in South Africa.
Lt-Gen Nyamwasa fled to South Africa this year after falling out with the government in Kigali, later accusing President Paul Kagame of using an anti-corruption campaign to frame opponents.
Kigali wants him back to answer charges of alleged terrorism in connection with bomb blasts which rocked the country early this year an accusation he has vehemently denied.
Just days after the August 9 presidential poll in which Mr Kagame won overwhelmingly with 93 per cent, a grenade was thrown into a rush-hour crowd in Kigali, wounding at least seven people. Analysts said the attack appeared to be aimed at producing a political crisis.
Lt-Col Ngabo who was the Commanding Officer of the Engineering Regiment is another of the high profile arrests of high ranking officers of the Rwandan military made in recent times.
Early this year two of Rwanda’s senior-ranking army officials including Lt Gen. Charles Muhire and Maj. Gen Emmanuel Karenzi Karake were suspended and arrested on corruption and immoral conduct charges respectively.
Meanwhile, Rwanda’s capital is changing from a sleepy backwater where most things closed at 9 pm to a future Singapore with gleaming office blocks and all-night shopping.
Ten years ago, ordering a coffee got you an imported tin of the worst kind of Nescafe accompanied by a pot of powdered milk. Now you can choose from expresso, macchiato or mocha from home-grown beans and the milk comes frothing out of a steamer.
Rwanda’s ambitious “Vision 2020” plan seeks to transform the central African state into a middle-income country and acknowledges: “this will not be achieved unless we transform from a subsistence agriculture economy to a knowledge-based society”.
The country has already successfully promoted top-end eco-tourism around the endangered mountain gorillas that live on the mist-clad slopes of the Virunga volcanoes.
It has also positioned its coffee output at the speciality end of the market. “Kigali is one of the fastest-growing cities in Africa and we are committed to ensuring future growth is based on very good planning,” city Mayor Aisa Kirabo Kacyira told AFP.
The Colorado-based OZ Architecture firm has developed a 50-year master plan for Kigali, incorporating a new international airport, and with entire districts of town given over respectively to shopping, offices, technology and medical facilities 
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