Gen Kabarebe meeting disabled ex-soldiers at an earlier event in December 2013 (Courtesy photo)
Defense minister General James Kabarebe has joined other Rwandan officials in sending a hardline tone following the death of Patrick Karegeya, whose body was allegedly found in a hotel room in a Johannesburg suburb on 1st January.
Equating Karegeya to “trash”, Gen Kabarebe said a normal person cannot decide to leave a country like Rwanda which has the kind of security and development prevailing, to go into exile. The Defense Minister was speaking at Ndi Umunyarwanda event in Rubavu district, North West Rwanda – bordering DRC.
“Do not waste your time on reports that so and so was strangled with a rope on flat 7 in whatever country,” said Kabarebe, according to Kigali Today, a Kinyarwanda news site in Rwanda.
He added: “When you choose to be a dog, you die like a dog, and the cleaners will wipe away the trash so that it does not stink for them. Actually, such consequences are faced by those who have chosen such a path. There is nothing we can do about it, and we should not be interrogated over it.”
Gen Kabarebe urged the local population to continue with their daily activities and disregard the rumours being propagated, in apparent reference to rumour that was spread on Thursday and Friday from DR Congo that President Paul Kagame had passed on. The information was falsely spread by a Congolese blog based on a fake obituary published on another website in France.
Minister Kabarebe said the people of Rubavu should take the lead in ensuring the security of the nation by preventing any infiltrations from DRC. He also urged them not to emulate the bad behaviors known among Congolese.
Meanwhile, Kigali Today also reports that at the same event, the local population repeatedly asked the Minister that they would like President Kagame to visit the area as soon as possible to show the Congolese that Rwanda’s leadership cannot be wished away.
Gen Kabarebe’s comments come after those of Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo who said nobody in Rwanda will miss Patrick Karegeya, a former intelligence official.