Rwandan assassin still holed up here

From the Razor Online NewsA top Rwandan assassin who sneaked into the country is still around and about, a highly placed security source told to The Razor yesterday. Captain Francis Gakwerere, considered East Africa’s top hitman, is reported to have left a plush Kampala city hotel after The Razor blew the lid off his whereabouts and relocated to a guest house in Bugolobi, one of the upscale Kampala suburbs located southeast of the city.

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Gakwerere is a high profile retired RPF soldier wanted in connection with the shooting of exiled Rwandan Army General Kayumba Nyamwasa in South Africa last June. Security sources told this newspaper that the guesthouse that is highly restrictive belongs to a Rwandan national with businesses in Kampala. “At least he hasn’t yet left the country. We have established that he (Gakwerere) is still in town but we don’t know what his mission is,” said a security operative attached to Internal Security Organisation (ISO).
The source that described Gakwerere’s presence as a “thorn in the security’s operations, said they were closely monitoring him. “We know Gakwerere and his movements. We are not taking chances. We shall continue to monitor him,” said the source that declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.
A senior security operative attached to External Security Organisation (ESO) yesterday revealed to The Razor that a joint crisis meeting between leading security agencies was held last week to find out what mission the Rwandan hitman has to accomplish in Uganda.
The security agencies included ESO, ISO, Anti-terrorism, Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence and operations department of Police. “He is a smart and highly respected former Rwandan operative, that is why we put our heads together to seek amicable solutions without causing a diplomatic row,” said the senior officer. His continued presence in Uganda and entry without detection has triggered a panicky investigation by the security bodies.
Gakwerere is one of the original members of the Rwanda Patriotic Army (RPA), the armed wing that toppled Rwandan late president Juvenal Habyarimana. He joined the RPA as a kadogo (child soldier). Being illiterate, he was taken to the Rwandan Kadogo School at Ruhengeri, in the northern part of Rwanda where he got basic training in military skills. He is believed to be between 35 -36 years.
Earlier intelligence reports indicated that Gakwerere and others resided in a top Kampala hotel before they left for the Democratic Republic of Congo where a failed assassination attempt on President Joseph Kabila was reported on February 27. Six of the attackers were killed by forces guarding Kabila’s presidential palace.
Gakwerere, considered a top professional assassin in the region, was last year arrested in South Africa and questioned in relation to the failed assassination attempt on Rwandan general Nyamwasa. The foiled assassination attempt led to a simmering row between Rwanda and South Africa.
Both Rwandan embassy officials in Kampala and the Rwandan foreign ministry declined to comment on the alleged presence of Gakwerere in the country. ‘We have heard of such and we wouldn’t want to comment on issues that will cause tension among the two sister nations,” said a top Rwandan diplomat in Kampala.
By Patrick Jaramogi