Rwandan Gospel singer, Kizito Mihigo, who shocked the country when he was arrested in 2014 and charged with plotting to kill the president and top government leaders, has died at the age of 38. He pleaded guilty to all charges, leading the judge to say he was given a lenient sentence because he had made the court’s work easy.
A statement shared on social media by police spokesman JB Kabeera said Mihigo’s body was found during a routine check by officers at Remera police station on Monday morning. The spokesman gave no further details.
Described by many as Rwanda ‘s biggest cultural icon and a devout Roman Catholic known for songs promoting healing and forgiveness, Mihigo had been pardoned in 2018. But he was rearrested three days ago over what police said was a violation of the terms of his release by trying to leave the country without permission and attempting to bribe Rwandans who spotted him trying to cross into neighboring Burundi.
A resident in the south-western Nyaruguru district told BBC Great Lakes that on Thursday villagers had stopped the musician, who was carrying a heavy bag, and handed him over to police.
“I was there, I saw him.” Said one.
Those who stopped him said he was trying to cross to Burundi using illegal roads. “From here to the border it’s less than five minutes’ walk,” the resident, who declined to be named, said.
As such, Police said the singer was to be charged with bribery and attempting to leave the country for the purpose of going to join a rebel group. He was thereafter detained at Remera Police Station where he spent three nights before reportedly finding him dead Monday morning. Police has since claimed the singer committed suicide.
Weeks before his arrest, Mihigo had released a song – Igisobanuro Cy’urupfu (The Meaning of Death) – in which he seemed to challenge the official narrative of the genocide. Some have speculated that it was the song that led to his arrest. Rwandan authorities had said at the time charges had nothing to do with the lyrics of the song.
Mihigo sang the national anthem at state events courtesy of his amazing vocals and piano skills. A number of commentators believe that Mihigo was actually killed by the regime who has had a 24-hour surveillance over him since releasing him in 2018. Kagame administration is widely accused of assassinating dissidents living both in the country and abroad.
Last last in March, when commenting on the 1998 killing of exiled opposition leader Seth Sendashonga, a fierce Kagame critic, who was gunned down in the streets of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, Kagame said he had little to say on claims that his Hit Squad was behind the murder. He was however quick to say that, “I am also not apologetic about it.”
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