Police in Kigali are holding two of their own as prime suspects in the killing of Gustave Makonene, a former employee of Transparency International Rwanda.

The two are Corporals Nelson Iyakaremye and Isaac Ndabarinze.

A third officer, who was seen at the deceased’s premises on the day of his killing, was not arrested because Police did not have enough evidence to implicate him after thorough investigations and interrogations.

Makonene was killed on July 17, last year, and his body was found the following day by residents on the shores of Lake Kivu in Nyamvumba Sector, Rubavu District.

Ndabarinze was arrested in Kigali last weekend, while his accomplice was already serving a sentence in Remera Prison on other charges related to mineral smuggling.

"For over a year now, the Criminal Investigation Department has been conducting investigations into the murder of Makonene, which led to the arrest of the two, both corporals in RNP, a situation the Force regrets,” ACP Theos Badege, the Commissioner of CID, said as the suspects were paraded before the media yesterday.

"We have taken long conducting investigations in this case and have credible evidence the courts will find convincing; we believe we have got prime suspects.”

Motive

Police said Makonene, a coordinator of Transparency International-Rwanda in Rubavu District, fell victim to a well orchestrated murder ploy, when he discovered that the two corporals were aiding mineral smugglers to transit from DR Congo into the country.

"He warned the two in a friendly manner that what they were doing was not right and that they should stop. However, they took it in bad faith,” Badege told journalists.

"Investigations indicate that Ndabarinze and Iyakaremye killed Makonene to prevent him from disclosing their illegal transactions that included taking bribes and aiding smugglers.”

He added that the two suspects "worked alone” and that nobody else was involved.

"CID has completed its investigations and the file is ready to be handed to prosecution,” Badege said, adding that "if any new evidence surfaces, we will include it.”

How they did it

Police said once the two individuals learned that Makonene had incriminating information about them, they decided to "permanently” silence him.

And, although Iyakaremye was shortly after transferred to Kigali, he constantly stayed in touch with hNdabarinze in Rubavu.

"They agreed to kill him on the day Police would be carrying out a drugs operation in the area on July 17, 2013. On the day of the murder, Iyakaremye left for Rubavu without permission from his superiors and met his accomplice at about 6pm,” Badege said.

"They then drove in a pick-up they had borrowed from a Congolese. They waited for Makonene along the road, at around 9pm as he travelled back home and kidnapped him at gunpoint.”

Badege added that the suspects then drove their victim to Kigufi, a small town in Rubavu, where they strangled him and dumped the body.

The Prosecution is likely to prefer murder charges for the suspects.

Both Mupiganyi Apollinaire, the executive director of Transparency International, and Marie Immaculate Ingabire, the chairperson, were unreachable for comments on the development, while their colleagues at the agency said they were not authorised to speak to the media on the matter.