Tom Byabagamba, the former commander of President Paul Kagame’s elite presidential guard, has died while serving a prison sentence in Rwanda. His brother, David Himbara, a former presidential adviser and currently an exiled dissident, announced the death on Tuesday in a statement posted to X. Byabagamba was 59 years old.
Byabagamba, who held the rank of colonel before being stripped of his title, had been incarcerated for 12 years. His brother did not provide a specific cause of death in the announcement. Rwandan authorities have remained silent on the matter, and the topic of Byabagamba is widely considered a taboo subject within the country.
The former commander served under President Kagame until 2010, when he was removed from his post following an apparent falling out with the president; no official reason for his dismissal was provided at the time. In August 2014, Rwandan authorities detained Byabagamba alongside another officer, Brig. Frank Rusagara. The Military High Court convicted them in 2016 on charges that included tarnishing the government’s image and inciting insurrection. Rusagara passed away in prison last year.
The legal proceedings against the two men were viewed by many critics as flawed. Human Rights Watch noted that the case appeared to follow a documented pattern of silencing government critics both domestically and abroad. While Byabagamba was initially given a 21-year prison sentence, the Court of Appeal reduced his term to 15 years in 2019.
The Rwandan government consistently denies targeting its political opponents. However, critics of President Kagame argue that his authoritarian approach suppresses internal dissent, leading many senior army officers to flee into exile due to fears for their safety. While Kagame is widely credited with rebuilding Rwanda following the 1994 genocide, he remains a subject of persistent criticism regarding allegations of political suppression, media muzzling, and human rights abuses—all of which he denies.
