Robert Kabera, Rwandan Government Critic, Beheaded in Uganda

Robert Kabera, Rwandan Government Critic, Beheaded in Uganda - The New York Times

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Africa|Critic of Rwandan Government Found Beheaded in Uganda

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/20/world/africa/rwandan-beheaded-uganda-kabera.html

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Critic of Rwandan Government Found Beheaded in Uganda

The former soldier had been living in exile since 2020, and said in a video posted this month on TikTok that he feared for his life.

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By Brian O. Otieno

Reporting from Nairobi, Kenya

Oct. 20, 2026Updated 6:22 p.m. ET

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A vocal critic of Rwanda’s government who fled to Uganda in fear of his life has been found beheaded, the police say.

The authorities launched an investigation after the body of Robert Kabera, a former Rwandan soldier, was found Saturday in a district 30 miles southwest of the capital, Kampala, a police spokesman, Rusoke Kituuma, said on Monday.

The head was still missing, he said.

Mr. Kabera, 50, had used social media to attack Rwanda’s president, Paul Kagame. In one video posted this month on TikTok, he said he feared for his life. “Kill us if you want,” the video was titled, pledging that “Major Robert will say the truth.”

Human rights groups say that Mr. Kabera’s death fits a pattern in which people regarded as opponents of Mr. Kagame have been assassinated abroad, sometimes in gruesome fashion. A spokeswoman for Rwanda’s government, Yolande Makolo, did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

Nearly a dozen high-profile Rwandan dissidents have been targeted or killed after fleeing the country, according to rights groups. They include former military personnel, opposition figures and journalists.

The deaths undercut Rwanda’s image as a nation that restored itself after the genocide of 1994. Rwanda, a country of just 15 million, punches far above its weight in financial terms, and has risen to become one of Africa’s most prominent economies.

**Corrected on**

Oct. 20, 2026

:

An earlier version of this article misstated the year a former head of Rwandan military intelligence, Patrick Karegeya, was found strangled in a hotel room in Johannesburg. It was 2014, not 2013.

We acknowledge mistakes in our reporting with corrections. If you spot an error, please let us know at [email protected] more.

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