November 19, 2021

Nelson Mugabo’s Mother Was Nearly Conned out of Rwf 500,000 To “Release Son”


Trustworthy and indepth news stories are more important now than ever.
Support our newsroom by MAKING A CONTRIBUTION HERE
Nelson Mugabo is an adult with his own children, but his mother still considers him her baby.

When you ask Nelson Mugabo, 44, how is he doing, his response with a nod, is; “Ndaho bisanzwe” – literary meaning ‘I’m OK, nothing unusual’. But the father of six: 2 girls, 2 boys and 2 girls respectively, is anything but fine.

He was among the first Rwandan nationals arrested in the wave that hit the community back in early August 2017. By the day of his arrival with 8 others at Gatuna border post on January 8 last year around 1am, Mugabo had spent exactly 3 years in the dreaded Ugandan military intelligence detention facilities.

Mugabo spent at least four weeks on treatment at the Kanombe Military Hospital in Kigali due to the nature of his torture injuries. He moved to Tabagwe sector, Nyagatare district at the home of his mother. “I was in a very bad state that is why I decided to stay near her in case I was breathing my last,” he told us during interview in Tabagwe.  

Mugabo was right to choose the mother’s home, because throughout the period he was missing, it is the elderly widow who took care of his 5 children and wife since their sole breadwinner was no more. The wife and children relocated from Rubavu district and some children were out of school. They are aged; 17, 14, 11, 8 and 5. Then recently, the family welcomed their last-born.

At the mother’s home is where Mugabo’s elder sister and two young brothers also lived. After a week, he found a house for rent a short distance from home, where he moved with wife and the five children. Mugabo received some funding on arrival from government, but appears adamant to say how much. He used some of that money to open a small shop selling consumer items like soap, salt and necessities needed in rural areas.

As the wife, who has yet to master speaking Kinyarwanda – mostly using Swahili, managed the shop, Mugabo began toiling; doing anything he could find including working at construction sites, to earn small wages.

With a combination of the COVID-19 national lockdowns that followed throughout last year, and uncertainty this year, Mugabo has turned from a successful jovial trader, to being extremely reserved. He has little to celebrate; except that he has been able to complete the 3-bedroom house he had been building even before his disappearance.

“The small financial support I received found a very long list of urgent needs including tuition for the children,” he said. “Every time I wonder to myself whether I will ever be at same level as my acquittances”.

Back in Uganda, Mugabo was dealing in men clothing and some items for women. He bought big quantities, which he resold in Rubavu, and mostly across in Goma, eastern DR Congo. It was good business.

But then how did Mugabo Nelson end up in Uganda, we ask.

Around late evening of August 17, 2017, Mugabo was in a motel room in Rubago, a suburb of Kampala. He had bought a bus ticket preparing to return to Rwanda that night.

Suddenly, heavily armed plain-cloth men with heads covered except small eye openings, stormed into his room. They also wore overcoats written on JATT, the Ugandan police notorious anti-terrorism unit.

One of them pointed a gun at him, as another shouted in Swahili; “Piga muginga,”, a common pronouncement in security circles literary meaning; ‘beat the fool’.

In ensuing seconds, the men fired eight bullets inside the room, in a possible attempt to kill him. None of the bullets hit him. Mugabo attempted to fight the men suspecting they were robbers who wanted his possessions; money, two phones, laptop, watch, shoes and clothes.

The men trampled on him, battering him with gun butts. One of the men had a brand-new gardenhoe stick (Umuhini w’Isuka). Subdued, they handcuffed and undressed him, leaving just the trouser on. The men used his Undershirt to blindfold him. All the while, Mugabo pleaded with them.

“I told them I’m a Rwandan trader with all necessary documents, and they were responding ‘that is actually why we are here’….,” Mugabo narrated to us. They drove for a long distance in the Toyota Noah up to Kigumba, a town in Kiryandongo district, more than 220km northwest of Kampala.

During the trip, the men used everything in their possession including a Hydraulic Car Jab (Ijeki). As they drove, the men kept repeating same question; ‘What mission do you have with Kayihura?’, referring to the embattled former Ugandan police chief Gen Kale Kayihura.

They reached a wildlife park, where they removed him from the car. Lifted the blindfold and that is how Mugabo noticed it was a park. They put him on firing squad. He asked to be allowed to pray. It is the one who appeared to be the leader of the captors that stopped them from executing Mugabo, telling his colleagues that the “bosses know we have him”. Mugabo would learn many weeks later that this particular officer was called Denis, attached to JATT.

They got back into the vehicle and drove for more kilometers. In the car, one said in Luganda language: “Oba tugende bwetutuka ku bridge tumuwe lift agende ewabwe.” – loosely translated as; “Maybe we drop him off at the bridge for a lift back to their origin.”

However, as they stopped on the bridge preparing to take Mugabo out, shot him and throw the body in the fast-moving river, two vehicles appeared. The lights of the vehicles disrupted the action. Mugabo was put back into the car and they drove off back to Kampala.

“God did not want me to die that day; that I know for sure. I had survived execution at the last second,” said Mugabo.  

In comes Mugabo’s elderly mother

Later, in the months that followed, Mugabo learnt that the bridge where they stopped was on River Nile. The “lift” was meant to refer to dumping Mugabo’s body in the river to end up in Ethiopia, supposedly the origin for Tutsis. So, to the captors, it was like sending Mugabo, the Tutsi, back to his origin, Ethiopia. This notion is infamous with genocide ideologue Dr Leon Mugesera from a 1992 speech.

The next morning is when the van arrived at the final destination in Kampala. Mugabo says he heard the soldiers they found there retorting; “Did you slaughter a cow from the car?”, as Mugabo’s blood was all over the seats and he had wounds all over the body, particularly the head.

At this facility is when the interrogations and torture began. The wailing and groans were order of the day in the facility. In that facility, arrivals were tied on bars on the stairs to a Go-Down. Then hanging hands followed. Then waterboarding came.

There were Arab-like people in cells. For weeks and weeks, the route was the same. After 3 months, Rwandans began arriving. A lot happened to Mugabo, it cannot all be described here.

In their newly-built family home, Nelson Mugabo holds last born daugter, born after his return. Without the wife (C) and mother (L), Mugabo would not have had a place to come back to.

Months later, Mugabo had shared his home location with one of the Rwandans who found him in the CMI facility. After release, that Rwandan went looking for Mugabo’s mother in Tabagwe sector. It is then that the elderly woman began going regularly to Nyagatare district looking for news about her son. 

At some point, a person telephoned Mugabo’s mother from across in Uganda from area bordering Tabagwe. The caller said he knew where Mugabo was, and needed Rwf 500,000 to get the mother the details. Mugabo’s mother sold a piece of land, and was about to pay the money. In our conversation, Mugabo’s mother tells us it was people from her church who discouraged her from paying the money. That is how far a desperate mother was willing to go.

Mugabo was deported following a high-profile ceremony at Kampala Serena Hotel. It was at the peak of Rwanda-Uganda talks that have since collapsed. He was brought to border together with Rene Rutagungira, Herman Nzeyimana, Etienne Nsanzabahizi, Emmanuel Rwamucyo, Augustin Rutayisire, Adrien Munyagabe, Gilbert Urayeneza and Jean-Claude Iyakaremye.

Back at the CMI facility, Mugabo remembers a man identified as “Yoweri”, who claimed to be son of President Yoweri Museveni, conceived during the bush war period of 1980-1986. The man said he was being incarcerated to eliminate him as the Museveni family saw him as a burden. “Yoweri” had rare details about the years he was looked after by Gen Salim Saleh Akandwanaho, the younger brother of President Museveni.

To date, Mugabo limps and has to walk with the aid of a walking stick. The damage to his thighs and other internal body organs could be permanent. He may have to keep taking different medicines for the rest of his life.

Augustin Rutayisire, whom we visited for this project, is also another reason Mugabo survived. They met at a CMI facility, but Rutayisire was charged in military court and remanded to Luzira Prison because it was determined he was a civilian. There, Rutayisire’s fate became public. It is from there that he and others jailed together shared information with people who visited about Mugabo and other Rwandans in CMI facilities.  

We can't do quality journalism without your support

Perhaps it goes without saying — but producing quality journalism isn't cheap. At a time when newsroom resources and revenue are declining, The Chronicles remains committed to "Serving Your Right To Know The Truth". Stand with us as we document Rwanda's remarkable journey for you and the future generation. Do you value our journalism? We can't do it without you. Show us with your support by CONTRIBUTING HERE.
Email your news TIPS to info@chronicles.rw or WhatsApp +250788351327.
You can also find us on Signal

129 Comments

  1. Hey! I could have sworn I’ve been to this site before but
    after reading through some of the post I realized it’s
    new to me. Anyways, I’m definitely glad I found it and I’ll be book-marking and checking back often!

  2. Nice blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere? A design like yours with a few simple adjustements would really make my blog jump out. Please let me know where you got your design. Kudos

  3. This design is steller! You most certainly know how to keep a reader entertained. Between your wit and your videos, I was almost moved to start my own blog (well, almost…HaHa!) Fantastic job. I really enjoyed what you had to say, and more than that, how you presented it. Too cool!

  4. I think what you postedwrotesaidthink what you postedwrotesaidbelieve what you postedwrotebelieve what you postedtypedsaidWhat you postedwrotesaid was very logicala lot of sense. But, what about this?think about this, what if you were to write a killer headlinetitle?content?typed a catchier title? I ain’t saying your content isn’t good.ain’t saying your content isn’t gooddon’t want to tell you how to run your blog, but what if you added a titleheadlinetitle that grabbed a person’s attention?maybe get a person’s attention?want more? I mean %BLOG_TITLE% is a little plain. You might peek at Yahoo’s home page and see how they createwrite news headlines to get viewers interested. You might add a related video or a pic or two to get readers interested about what you’ve written. Just my opinion, it could bring your postsblog a little livelier.

  5. I think this is one of the most important information for me. And i’m glad reading your article. But wanna remark on few general things, The site style is perfect, the articles is really nice : D. Good job, cheers

  6. Greetings from Ohio! I’m bored to death at work so I decided to check out your website on my iphone during lunch break. I enjoy the knowledge you present here and can’t wait to take a look when I get home. I’m amazed at how quick your blog loaded on my mobile .. I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyhow, fantastic site!

  7. Remarkable things here. I’m very glad to peer your article. Thank you so much and I’m taking a look forward to touch you. Will you please drop me a mail?

  8. Woah! I’m really enjoying the template/theme of this site. It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s tough to get that “perfect balance” between user friendliness and visual appeal. I must say that you’ve done a amazing job with this. In addition, the blog loads very fast for me on Chrome. Exceptional Blog!

  9. It’s really a nice and helpful piece of information. I’m satisfied that you simply shared this helpful info with us. Please stay us informed like this. Thank you for sharing.

  10. Hey there! I know this is somewhat off-topic but I had to ask. Does building a well-established blog like yours take a lot of work? I’m completely new to blogging but I do write in my diary everyday. I’d like to start a blog so I will be able to share my experience and thoughts online. Please let me know if you have any suggestions or tips for new aspiring bloggers. Appreciate it!

  11. Its like you read my mind! You seem to understand so much approximately this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I feel that you could do with some % to drive the message house a bit, however other than that, this is wonderful blog. An excellent read. I’ll definitely be back.

  12. hi!,I love your writing so so much! proportion we keep in touch more approximately your post on AOL? I need an expert in this space to unravel my problem. May be that is you! Looking forward to peer you.

  13. Hey outstanding blog! Does running a blog like this take a great deal of work? I have very little knowledge of programming but I was hoping to start my own blog soon. Anyways, if you have any suggestions or tips for new blog owners please share. I know this is off topic but I just had to ask. Cheers!

  14. Superb website you have here but I was curious if you knew of any message boards that cover the same topics talked about in this article? I’d really love to be a part of group where I can get advice from other knowledgeable individuals that share the same interest. If you have any recommendations, please let me know. Thanks a lot!

  15. hey there and thank you for your information I’ve definitely picked up anything new from right here. I did however expertise some technical issues using this site, since I experienced to reload the web site a lot of times previous to I could get it to load properly. I had been wondering if your hosting is OK? Not that I am complaining, but sluggish loading instances times will very frequently affect your placement in google and can damage your high quality score if advertising and marketing with Adwords. Anyway I’m adding this RSS to my e-mail and can look out for a lot more of your respective interesting content. Make sure you update this again soon.

  16. naturally like your web-site however you need to test the spelling on quite a few of your posts. A number of them are rife with spelling problems and I find it very bothersome to tell the truth on the other hand I will certainly come back again.

  17. I am extremely impressed with your writing skills and also with the layout on your blog. Is this a paid theme or did you customize it yourself? Either way keep up the nice quality writing, it’s rare to see a nice blog like this one these days.

  18. I was wondering if you ever considered changing the layout of your site? Its very well written; I love what youve got to say. But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could connect with it better. Youve got an awful lot of text for only having one or two images. Maybe you could space it out better?

  19. Please let me know if you’re looking for a article author for your site. You have some really great posts and I believe I would be a good asset. If you ever want to take some of the load off, I’d really like to write some material for your blog in exchange for a link back to mine. Please blast me an e-mail if interested. Thank you!

  20. Hello there, simply become aware of your blog thru Google, and found that it is really informative. I’m gonna watch out for brussels. I will appreciate for those who continue this in future. Lots of other folks might be benefited from your writing. Cheers!

  21. You really make it seem so easy together with your presentation however I find this topic to be really something which I think I would never understand. It kind of feels too complicated and very broad for me. I am taking a look forward for your next submit, I will try to get the cling of it!

  22. I’ve been exploring for a little bit for any high-quality articles or blog posts in this kind of area . Exploring in Yahoo I eventually stumbled upon this site. Reading this info So i’m satisfied to show that I have a very just right uncanny feeling I found out exactly what I needed. I so much indisputably will make certain to don?t forget this site and give it a look on a continuing basis.

  23. You’re so cool! I don’t suppose I’ve read anything like this before. So nice to find someone with some original thoughts on this issue. Really.. thanks for starting this up. This site is something that is needed on the web, someone with some originality!

  24. I know this if off topic but I’m looking into starting my own blog and was wondering what all is required to get set up? I’m assuming having a blog like yours would cost a pretty penny? I’m not very internet savvy so I’m not 100% positive. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated. Kudos

  25. Hi there! I could have sworn I’ve been to this site before but after browsing through some of the post I realized it’s new to me. Nonetheless, I’m definitely glad I found it and I’ll be bookmarking and checking back often!

  26. I don’t even understand how I stopped up here, however I thought this publish used to be good. I don’t recognise who you are however definitely you are going to a famous blogger in case you are not already. Cheers!

  27. Hey there! I know this is kinda off topic however , I’d figured I’d ask. Would you be interested in exchanging links or maybe guest writing a blog article or vice-versa? My site addresses a lot of the same subjects as yours and I believe we could greatly benefit from each other. If you happen to be interested feel free to send me an e-mail. I look forward to hearing from you! Superb blog by the way!

  28. Excellent blog! Do you have any tips and hints for aspiring writers? I’m planning to start my own site soon but I’m a little lost on everything. Would you propose starting with a free platform like WordPress or go for a paid option? There are so many choices out there that I’m totally confused .. Any recommendations? Thanks a lot!

  29. Нужна стяжка пола в Москве, но вы не знаете, как выбрать подрядчика? Обратитесь к нам на сайт styazhka-pola24.ru! Мы предлагаем услуги по устройству стяжки пола любой площади и сложности, а также гарантируем быстрое и качественное выполнение работ.

  30. Thank you for some other informative website. Where else may just I am getting that kind of info written in such a perfect means? I have a venture that I am simply now running on, and I have been at the glance out for such information.

  31. Хотите обновить свой дом с минимальными усилиями? Штукатурка по маякам стен – это то, что вам нужно. Обратитесь к профессионалам с mehanizirovannaya-shtukaturka-moscow.ru

  32. Youre so cool! I dont suppose Ive read anything such as this prior to. So nice to uncover somebody with many original ideas on this subject. realy thanks for starting this up. this fabulous website can be something that is required on the internet, somebody with a little originality. valuable problem for bringing something totally new on the web . Fine with your permission allow me to grab your feed to keep updated with forthcoming post. Thanks a million and please keep up the gratifying work industrial outdoor storage

  33. Very good blog! Do you have any helpful hints for aspiring writers? I’m planning to start my own site soon but I’m a little lost on everything. Would you advise starting with a free platform like WordPress or go for a paid option? There are so many choices out there that I’m totally confused .. Any recommendations? Bless you!

  34. You…are…my…hero!!! I cant believe something like this exists on the internet! Its so true, so honest, and more than that you dont sound like an idiot! Finally, someone who knows how to talk about a subject without sounding like a kid who didnt get that bike he wanted for Christmas. 토토사이트

  35. I definitely enjoying every little bit of it. It is a great website and nice share. I want to thank you. Good job! You guys do a great blog, and have some great contents. Keep up the good work 뉴토끼

  36. 와우 … 정말 멋진 블로그입니다.이 글을 쓴 글쓴이는 정말 훌륭한 블로거입니다.이 글은 제가 더 나은 사람이되도록 영감을줍니다. 뉴토끼

  37. I’m not sure why but this site is loading extremely slow for me. Is anyone else having this issue or is it a problem on my end? I’ll check back later and see if the problem still exists.

  38. 안녕하세요 좋은 정보를 공유하고 싶습니다. 좋은 정보를 얻으십시오. 좋은 정보를 얻을 것입니다. 코로나 때문에 모두 힘들 겠지만 최선을 다해주세요. 코로나가 곧 사라지 길 바랍니다. 누구나 힘들 겠지만 더 견디고 좋은 결과를 얻을 수 있기를 바랍니다. 감사합니다 토토사이트

  39. I would like to thank you for the efforts you have made in writing this article. I am hoping the same best work from you in the future as well. In fact your creative writing abilities has inspired me to start my own Blog Engine blog now. Really the blogging is spreading its wings rapidly. Your write up is a fine example of it. 먹튀검증

  40. Fantastic website you have here but I was curious if you knew of any community forums that cover the same topics talked about in this article? I’d really love to be a part of group where I can get suggestions from other knowledgeable individuals that share the same interest. If you have any recommendations, please let me know. Many thanks!

  41. After research a couple of of the weblog posts in your website now, and I really like your method of blogging. I bookmarked it to my bookmark website record and will probably be checking back soon. Pls check out my site as effectively and let me know what you think. Computers & Accessories 메이저사이트

  42. It is perfect time to make a few plans for the future and it is time to be happy. I have read this post and if I may I wish to recommend you few interesting things or advice. Perhaps you could write next articles referring to this article. I want to read more things approximately it!

  43. I am extremely inspired together with your writing skills and alsowell as with the layout on your blog. Is this a paid subject or did you customize it yourself? Either way stay up the nice quality writing, it’s rare to see a nice blog like this one nowadays..

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *