Frank Rusagara was close to Paul Kagame. Both were born in Rwanda but had to flee anti-Tutsi pogroms together with their families. Both grew up in neighboring Uganda, where they joined a rebellion against the government and helped boost Yoweri Museveni to power. Museveni in turn helped the Rwandan Tutsi to start the Rwandan Patriotic Front, a rebel movement intent on dislodging the Hutu-led government in Rwanda.
Kagame led the RPA, the RPF’s armed wing, while Rusagara held important posts in the rebel group, including serving as Kagame’s aide-de-camp. Both fought to stop the Rwandan genocide in 1994.
Kagame went on to become Rwanda’s president. He’s supposed to leave office in 2017, having served two full seven-year terms—the maximum the Rwandan constitution allows.
But there are signs that Kagame plans to run a third time. For years, political allies and the state-controlled media have demanded a renewal of his mandate. And Kagame himself has ended his tradition of categorically denying ambitions for a third term. FULL STORY