Sergeant Robert Kabera dies in Uganda

Former Rwandan soldier and musician Sergeant Major Robert Kabera, popularly known as Sergeant Robert, has been killed in Uganda, where he had been living as a refugee, according to his wife and a former associate who spoke to BBC.

His wife, Jeanne D’Arc Rwigema Uwizeye, said she believed he was killed on Saturday by people who found him at a house he was building in Kamengo, about 45 kilometres south-west of Uganda’s capital, Kampala.

Video footage provided to BBC reportedly shows the body of a man whose head had been severed, alongside health workers wearing medical clothing bearing Ugandan insignia and police officers in Ugandan uniforms.

The BBC said it had been unable to independently verify the footage.

The broadcaster also reported that Mulago National Referral Hospital in Kampala had received a police request to conduct an examination to establish the cause of death.

A document seen by the BBC reportedly described the body as having been found in a eucalyptus plantation without its head.

Another document, which the BBC could not independently authenticate, named “Innocent and others” as suspects.

Ugandan police had not responded to the BBC’s request for comment at the time of its report.

Kabera, 50, leaves behind three children, his wife said.

Describing her distress, she told the broadcaster: “It is terrifying. I feel like I have gone mad. I do not feel safe with the children.”

Kabera became widely known in Rwanda through his work with the Rwanda Defence Force’s Army Jazz Band, where he performed as a soloist.

He joined the army in 1993 and became a familiar voice during national celebrations, particularly Liberation Day.

He fled Rwanda in November 2020 and subsequently gave interviews in Uganda.

His departure from Rwanda followed allegations of sexual abuse involving a 15-year-old family member.

The Rwanda Defence Force announced in November 2020 that its Military Prosecution Department had opened an investigation into the allegations and said efforts to trace him were under way.

Kabera denied the allegations in an interview with Uganda’s Daily Monitor, describing them as fabricated and arguing that he had already crossed into Uganda before the alleged offence took place.

In May 2022, Kabera was arrested in Uganda during a security operation at his residence in Kampala, according to reports at the time.

He was subsequently released temporarily and reportedly required to report regularly to authorities.

The circumstances surrounding his death, the identity of those responsible and any possible motive remain unconfirmed.