Commenting on the fate of Paul Rusesabagina, the man who played the hero in Hotel Rwanda, James Onen aka Fatboy has said that similar critics of other governments might want to pick a leaf and stay put in their countries of exile.
It was reported that Rusesabagina was duped into attending a conference in Burundi and made to board a private jet from Dubai which unfortunately landed in Rwanda where he was a wanted criminal who had boycotted various proceedings. It is alleged that terrorist charges were placed against him. The court had found him and 20 others guilty of the MRCD-FLN rebel group and went on to issue the sentence in his absence.
The 25 year sentence of Rusesabagina, 67, a renown critic of the Kagame government left his family and Human Rights groups convinced that his terror charges were a politically motivated sham.
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After their exchange on social media, some would be sure about whom Fatboy was directing his advice at during the morning show on RX Radio. The renowned satirical novelist Kakwenza Rukirabashaija who fled the country on February 8, 2022 to Germany to get treatment for the wounds he got as a result of alleged toture during his time in incarceration.
“Well I think the moral lesson from Rusesabagina’s story is that if the government is after you, and you manage to get yourself in a country where there’s no extradition, you might want to stay put. If I were Kakwenza for instance, although he’s such a small fish, they wouldn't bother,” said Fatboy.
Olive Najjuma, the Fatboy Show co host reflected on various other government critics that are sometimes assassinated for instance the Mossad, the Israeli secret service and Rwanda’s secret service which has also been accused of assassinating critics such as Colonel Patrick Kalegeya who was found dead in his hotel in Johannesburg on January 1, 2014.
Kakwenza was arrested on December 28, 2021 after he had made offensive tweets directed towards the first son and Commander Land Forces Lt. Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba and his father President Museveni. He fled the country to Germany where he has resided for almost two months now joining fellow satirical writer Stella Nyanzi.
The Fatboy show is hosted by James Onen aka Fatboy, Olive and Sarah every weekday from 6am to 10am on RX Radio.