Lieutenant General Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa (born 1958/1962) is a Rwandan former military officer who was once one of President Paul Kagame’s closest allies. Since fleeing into exile, he has become the most enduring and high-profile target of alleged assassination plots orchestrated by the Rwandan regime.
Advertisement
Key Biographical Information
| Detail | Information |
| Full Name | Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa |
| Born | c. 1958/1962, Uganda (to Tutsi exiles) |
| Highest Rank | Lieutenant General |
| Political Party | Rwanda National Congress (RNC) (Co-founder) |
| Key Titles | Chief of Staff of the Rwandan Army (1998–2002); Head of Rwandan Intelligence (1998–2002); Ambassador to India (2004–2010) |
| Exile Date | Fled to South Africa on February 28, 2010 |
| Legal Status | Sentenced in absentia to 24 years in prison in Rwanda for terrorism and threat to state security (2011) |
| Current Status | Lives in exile in South Africa under police protection |
RPF Insider and Military Leader
-
Ugandan Ties: Like many RPF founders, Nyamwasa grew up in exile in Uganda. He joined Yoweri Museveni’s National Resistance Army (NRA) and was instrumental in the creation of the RPF in the late 1980s.
-
Post-Genocide Power: After the RPF victory in 1994, Nyamwasa was considered a central figure in stabilizing the country. He served as the Chief of Staff of the Rwandan Army and Head of Intelligence (1998–2002), making him one of the most powerful people in the country, second only to Paul Kagame.
Advertisement
-
International Accusations: Nyamwasa has been accused by various international legal inquiries, including a French one, of involvement, alongside Kagame, in the 1994 shooting down of President Juvénal Habyarimana’s plane, an event that triggered the Genocide against the Tutsi. He is also wanted in Spain for alleged war crimes committed by RPF forces in the DRC.
Disgrace, Exile, and Opposition
-
Falling Out: Tensions between Nyamwasa and Kagame grew over issues of policy, power, and corruption. In 2004, Kagame moved Nyamwasa away from the military by appointing him Ambassador to India. In 2010, fearing arrest after being summoned by military officials, Nyamwasa fled to South Africa.
-
Founding the RNC: In exile, he co-founded the Rwanda National Congress (RNC), an opposition movement dedicated to overthrowing the Kagame regime. RNC’s founders included former RPF insiders like Colonel Patrick Karegeya (ex-spy chief) and Dr. Théogène Rudasingwa (ex-chief of staff to Kagame).
-
Assassination Attempts: Nyamwasa has been the target of at least four documented assassination attempts in South Africa.
-
June 2010: Shortly after his arrival in Johannesburg, Nyamwasa was shot in the stomach in his driveway but survived. South African courts later convicted four men for the attack, ruling it was politically motivated.
-
His close RNC ally, Patrick Karegeya, was murdered (strangled) in a Johannesburg hotel in December 2013, a murder which Nyamwasa’s movement attributes to the Rwandan government.
-
Legal Status and Current Role
-
Terrorism Conviction: The Rwandan government has branded Nyamwasa and the RNC a terrorist group. In 2011, a Rwandan military court convicted him in absentia on terrorism and threat to state security charges, stripping his rank and sentencing him to 24 years in prison.
-
Targeted Opponent: Nyamwasa remains in South Africa under police protection, serving as the most significant and actively targeted symbol of armed and political resistance to President Kagame’s rule.