History: How media reported Rwigyema death

MAJ. GEN. Fred Rwigyema died on October 2 in Rwanda, informed sources disclosed yesterday. Maj. Peter Baingana and Maj Chris Bunyenyezi were also killed in late October by a surprise ambush between Nyagatare and Gabiro.

Rwigyema died on Tuesday, the day after the Rwandese Patriotic Front crossed the border. He died during a battle near Kagitumba. Rwandese government forces had retreated from Kagitumba the previous day to a hill about three kilometers away.

A government jeep with mounted machine gun was shooting from another hill and Rwigyema was hit and killed by a single bullet. Rwigyema had just called for a situation report and ordered for a recoilless gun to dislodge the jeep.

 Colonels carrying the coffin bearing Rwigyema's remains crowds out of Amahoro Stadium for burial 01.10.95

Rwigyema was given a military burial in Rwanda, allegedly in a coffin brought from Kabale by the rebels. No volley was fired over the grave but the coffin was saluted.

Baingana and Bunyenyezi were killed about three weeks ago on the same day at the same place. The ceasefire had just broken down as the government force Nyagatare and both of them were rushing there from Gabiro to assist. However, the main government force was mounted along the road and both fell into an ambush within a few hours of each other. 

There appears to be no truth in the widespread rumour that Rwigyema was killed by Bayingana in a power struggle and that Baingana was subsequently executed. Baingana was not in Kagitumba when Rwigyema was killed. He was apparently attending to the convoy of vehicles that the RPF had stolen from the NRA and which was hidden elsewhere.

Among Rwigyema's escorts were several non-Banyarwanda NRA soldiers including a Mugisu signaller who had gone to the bush out of loyalty to there commander rather than to the struggle of the refugees to return to there homeland.

Once Rwigyema died, their reason for being in Rwanda evaporated and they returned to Uganda. They told their story to high authorities and it, therefore, appears that a limited number of government officials have known since October 5 that Rwigyema was dead.

 Last respects to the fallen Rwandan hero Maj. Gen. Fred Rwigyema, adorned in limitary style at Amahoro Stadium in Kigali 01.10.95

Rwigyema's death was kept secret for a month by the people who were with him at the lime. They feared it would demoralise the RPF forces. It was also necessary to work out a new command structure.

It now appears as though the overall military commander may be Maj Paul Kagami who left the command course he was attending at Fort Bragg, Kansas to come back and joint the rebels. He was one of the RPF representatives who met President Mobutu's envoy in Mbarara last Wednesday.

It is also reported that Col Alex Kanyarengwe, a former minister of internal affairs in Rwanda who fled to Tanzania h 1980 after a failed coup attempt, is with the RPF in the bush. Maj Ndugute and Lt Col Adam Wasswa are also reported to be important military figures.

Last Tuesday, the Rwanda army recaptured the border post of Kagitumba after a day-long artillery barrage even though the rebels had vacated it without a fight in the morning. This indicates that there has been a change of strategy and that the RPF has reverted to more conventional guerilla tactics.

Shortly after the invasion, Maj Baingana told journalists that the RPF had decided to move faster towards Kigali because they had found the government army surprisingly weak. He said it was no longer necessary to follow guerilla tactics of concealment and retreat. But afterward, the RPF appears to have become over-extended trying to hold on to too much territory including the towns of Gabiro and Nyagatare.

Diplomatic sources indicated that large scale use of armoured cars by the government army which began in mid-October had also damaged the lightly armed RPF soldiers.

One theory is that Rwigyema had originally intended to follow a very cautious strategy avoiding roads and towns. But that after his death none of the other commanders in the bush had his experience of the early stages of bush warfare since they joined the NRA in 1982 or 1983. They, therefore, underestimated the strength of the state and overestimated their own capacity.

 Maj. Gen. Salim Saleh saluting the coffin bearing Rwigyema, his long-time friend's remains, as Saleh's wife Jovia comforts late Rwigyema's wife Janet 01.10.95

After the death of Baigana and Bunyenyezi on their way to Nyagatare, the rebels appear to have realised the futility of trying to hold on to fixed positions. After leaving Kagitumba on Tuesday, the RPF is thought to have divided up into smaller groups and spread out. Up to 5,000 rebels originally crossed into Rwanda from Uganda.

Claims by the Rwanda government that the RPF has retreated into Uganda after being defeated appear to be false. On Tuesday at Kagitumba and along the border there was no sign of RPF rebels crossing back into Uganda.

There were however 12,000 refugees in camps at Kamwezi and Kizinga and more refugees are still crossing. It is thought unlikely that these could be confused with RPF rebels since many of them are old men, women, and children. 

A Rwandese military delegation came ten days ago to establish points to monitor the border but they have not yet come to take up their positions. The government is said to be willing to allow them, if necessary, to use helicopters so that they can be absolutely certain that no RPF soldiers are crossing into Uganda and that no supplies are reaching them from Uganda.

"It was not our duty to ex-plain Fred's death. It was the duty of the RPF commanders' in the bush," a senior NRA source said yesterday explaining why they had not released the information.

The source was pessimistic about the peace process now underway. "We are trying but Rwanda does not seem to trust us. This is mot disheartening," he said. "It is wrong for them to talk of victory. Defeating who? Rwigyema may have been killed but there are two million refugees in East Africa."

"It would be good for them to trust Uganda we also want it solved. It is spilling politics," the source said. "It is bad that the Banyarwanda boys crossed into Rwanda with our guns.   That cannot be denied. But that having happened,   there must be a peaceful solution."

Western diplomats also appear to take the view that there should be a negotiated solution to the conflict. "We are trying to exert as much pressure as possible to insist that they talk. These people are Rwandese who have not been allowed to go home. Not all of them want to go back, they simply want the right to go back and this is a fundamental human right," said an ambassador yesterday.

 The body of the first Rwandese Patriotic Army (RPA) Commander Major Gen. Fred Rwigyema about to be lowered in the grave at the National Heros Corner in Remera in Kigali 01.10.95

"It is time to tackle one of the biggest problems in the region, the refugee problem," the ambassador said. "Once you have taken weapons in your hands, if you do not have discussions immediately you will end up destroying the country. We have seen this in Mozambique, Angola, Sudan, and Somalia.

The European nations have apparently told President Habyarimana that they are willing to finance the costs of resettling any refugees who return to Rwanda