By David Himbara
General Paul Kagame’s directors of finance end in a disaster. Kalisa Mupendi was Kagame’s director of finance in 2005–2008, doubling as chairman of the Development Bank of Rwanda.
Kagame threw Mupende in prison in 2009. Mupende died in prison 20th September 2019.
Before Mupende, James Gatera was Kagame’s director of finance
Kagame deployed James Gatera as follows:
- 2000 to 2005 — Gatera was Kagame’s director of finance.
- 2005 — 2007 — Gatera was Kagame’s man at the Bank of Kigali as deputy managing director.
- 2007 — 2016 — Gatera was CEO of the Bank of Kigali, after the Kagame regime bought the bank from Belgian investors using the pension money.
February 2016 to March 2017 — Kagame removed James Gatera from the Bank of Kigali and made him the Chief Executive Officer of Crystal Ventures Ltd, the ruling party’s business empire.
Thereafter, Gatera was replaced — and vanished!