Kigali — The vice president of the opposition Democratic Green Party, Andre Kagwa Rwisereka, who was reported to be missing on Monday, has been found dead according to a top party official.
Frank Habineza, the party's president, told The Nation on Tuesday that his deputy's body was found lying near a wetland in Butare. Mr Habineza said that he could not confirm the cause of his death.
"I can confirm that he was found dead this morning. His brother called Antoine Haguma was at the scene and identified the body.
"The body was found 2km from Rwanda National University an area which is about 4km from a wetland called River Mukula," Habineza said.
"His head had been cut off. Until now we don't know the cause of the death. We can't confirm the cause but we have approached the relevant authorities and asked them to help in all possible ways."
Mr Rwisereka went missing on Monday after his car was found abandoned near the southern city of Butare. Police had earlier confirmed that Rwisereka's pick-up truck had been found.
The Democratic Green Party is one of Rwanda's political parties that is yet to be registered for the country's presidential elections on August 9.
Rights groups have accused the government of tightening the screw ahead of a presidential election in August with two opposition leaders being arrested in the run-up to the vote.
According to critics the arrest of two opposition leaders, the suspension of two newspapers and the murder of a critical journalist are signs of an increasing clampdown.
However, the government in Kigali has said that some genuine incidents have been politicised. According to government officials there has been an effort to pursue dialogue with the opposition and there is an increased acceptance of opposing views since the 1994 genocide.
Police have also arrested two journalists for articles that they said could rekindle ethnic hatred and incite public disorder. However authorities say strict anti-genocide legislation is necessary to avoid a repeat of the bloodshed 16 years ago.
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Now come on!!!!!.....enough is enough already!
Do we realy need another UNAMIR coming to Rwanda to make sure that the coming elections will go smoothly without a hitch?
These peace hating individuals will stop to nothing until they see their purposes being served!!!.......I t's so obvious what their intentions are. Now we have to be afraid of everybody!!!.....one thing I know is that, the truth will alwys prevail......I mean, which goernment will committ such crimes which are so obvious to the whole world during the time of presidential elections?.....This is the work of those who hate to see Rwanda progressing to more than just a small country in the middle of no where in Africa!! I believe that the whole world can see what is happening here, and realy put a stop to it as quick as possible!!!.....we don't want to go back to 1994!!!!!!!......we give our government 100% support in trying to tackel all this work of thugs!!
God bless Rwanda!!
Open your eyes. The same scenario is happening in DRCongo where high and big figures can just die suddenly when opposing the government. This is ridiculous, it's obvious that president Paul Kagame is a serious killer as he is training Joseph Kabila to be even more evil. This 2 presidents are not affraid of committing more evil in the days to come. They know they will pretend to investigate to deceive the blinds. This is their thoughts: "Kill all those stupid leaders and nothing will happen to you. use the press and say the killer will be brought to justice". Flesh for flesh and blood for blood. we are all human beings, president kagame, Kabila and Museveny, the trio that has killed more than anybody else since 1950, will have their remuneration for all the killings, havoc, atrocity and catastrophy committed even if the international community is giving a blind eye to their actions. Jesus Christ is the witness and the judge, amen!.
Where is law and order in Rwanda, where is civility and freedom in Kegali? What I do not understand is how will elections late this year proceed with the climate of killing and intimidation.
Come on people, stop jumping to conclusions again.The past two incidents about the death of the opposition journalist and the shooting of the general in south africa,should have shown you that jumping onto conclusions accusing the Rwandan government is nothing but malicious. None of the legal investigations has so far pointed to the gov't,so stop and let the truth come out.
Amen to that.
This is exactly what the colonialists who do not want any good story written about Africa, want - something happens and immediately the government is the prime suspect, even without any shred of evidence to buttress that claim.
All those who are pointing accusing fingers at the government, if you are Rwandans, must bow your heads in shame.
When your country was burning and your streets turned into rivers of blood, where were these protectors of freedom? Didn't they run away, and didn't they wash their hands off you? When similar incident started in the Balkans however, they marshalled all their armies to save Kosovo, because they identified with them due to their skin color and their proximity to Europe.
You must learn to protect your own.
President Kagame took the bull by the horn when your country was confronted by the ugly chapter in your country's history, and now, your country is the most peaceful, the most clean and the most safe place in the whole of Africa. Do you think these colonialists and their apologists will give credit where credit is due? No.
You have the best man leading your country and being a Ghanaian, I could care less if Paul Kagame remains your president for life. The guy is a good guy who seeks to make your country a centerpiece of Africa and a success story for the rest of the continent to emulate. Please do not join those who have nothing good to offer your country in denegrading him and by extension, your country. Everything that your President does is in the interest of your country and its citizens. Those who are throwing bombs to kill and maim are out to sow a seed of discord in the country and to turn your beautiful country into another DRC and Burundi.
The difference between a leader and a follower is that, leaders are capable of taking hard decisions, and that is exactly who and what your President is.
As a member of the pen fraternity, I will urge my colleagues in the print and electronic media to resist any attempt by any person, group of people or agents of other governments to turn them into pawns against their own country and government. It is easy to cloak things under the guise of freedom of the press, but such freedom comes with responsibilities and as the fourth estate of the realm, you owe it as a duty to be the eyes, ears and mouth of the people and to zealously insulate your government against any external manipulation.
I love Rwanda and its beautiful people, and I admire your leaders, especially your President. Long live a peaceful and prosperous Rwanda and her people.
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