A Rwandan dissident has been found beheaded in neighboring Uganda

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — A Rwandan dissident who fled to Uganda was beheaded and his body found in a district outside the capital, Kampala, police said Monday.

The remains of Sgt. Maj. Robert Kabera, who served in the Rwandan army before he fled in 2020, were discovered on Saturday in a bush in the Kamengo area of the Ugandan district of Mpigi, Superintendent of Police Lydia Tumushabe told The Associated Press on Monday.

“The head, up to now, is still missing,” Tumushabe said.

After he crossed the border to Uganda, Kabera became an outspoken critic of Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who has been his country’s de facto leader or president since the end of the 1994 genocide.

Kabera’s body was identified by residents as well as his brother, Tumushabe said, adding that detectives don’t yet have firm clues on a possible motive.

National police spokesperson Rusoke Kituuma said Kabera’s previous service in the Rwandan military had been brought to the attention of detectives.

“There are those who allege that he was previously a serving soldier,” Kituuma told reporters. “Whatever. All that we shall establish in the course of investigations.”

Kabera was well-known in Rwanda as a soldier and musician with the Army Jazz Band, according to a 2008 profile of him in the local New Times newspaper.

After he fled to Uganda, the Rwandan military said in November 2020 that it had launched investigations into allegations that Kabera had unlawful sexual contact with a family member. “Efforts to trace the fugitive are underway,” the statement said.

Kabera told some in the Ugandan press that he had escaped Rwanda to avoid what he described as persecution.

Kabera’s YouTube channel, called Major Robert TV, had more than 140,000 followers and shared more than 800 videos. Kabera’s presentations were seen by some Rwandans as hurtful to the image of Rwanda’s government.

There was no immediate comment on Kabera’s death from authorities in Rwanda.

Rwanda’s government denies targeting its opponents, even as Kagame’s critics say his authoritarian stance leaves no room for internal dissent. Many senior army officers have fallen out with Kagame, with some fleeing into exile because they believed their lives had been threatened. Some of them have died in prison.

Kagame is praised for transforming Rwanda from a country in chaos after the genocide. But he also faces persistent criticism for what human rights groups say are widespread abuses, a muzzling of independent media and suppression of political opposition. He denies the accusations.