Kabera, a former Rwandan soldier and musician popularly known as “Sergeant Robert”, had arrived from Kampala the previous evening and later gone to a nearby bar in Luwala trading centre, Mpigi District, central Uganda.
When Victor Agaba failed to see his brother Robert Kabera on the morning of October 17, he went looking for him.
Agaba checked the house with Kabera’s son but found it closed.
At the bar, an attendant reportedly said Kabera had last been seen the previous night.
Agaba initially assumed his brother had slept at a lodge and went to his gardens.
At about 2pm, Luwala village’s defence secretary brought shocking news that “an unidentified body had been discovered without a head.”
Agaba rushed to the blood-soaked scene.
The decapitated body was lying in a pool of blood in Luwala village, Kammengo Sub-county.
“It was a terrible spectacle,” said an eyewitness who preferred anonymity to speak freely,” adding, “A swarm of flies hovered over the body.”
A scar on the right thumb of the body and shoes found nearby helped Agaba identify his brother.
Kabera had been killed in cold blood and beheaded by unidentified assailants.
What happened?
Family members say Kabera arrived from Kampala at about 7pm on October 16.
He was accompanied by his regular boda boda rider, known as Innocent.
After greeting his brother, Kabera left with the rider for a nearby bar.
“Kabera returned home at about 11.30pm to collect his phone before leaving again,” recalled a family member.
The bar attendant gave an earlier last-seen time of about 9.30pm.
Police at Kammengo with support from detectives in Kampala have since opened an investigation into the murder.
During the investigation, authorities recovered a large stick suspected to have been used to strike Kabera, two beer bottles – one empty and another half-full – and the deceased shoes.
The motive remains unknown. No connection has been established between the killing and the threats Kabera previously reported.
Three years earlier, local leaders in Kampala had written to police about an attack on him.
In a letter dated October 23, 2023, Sserwanga Village LC1 in Lubaga Division reported that three men had attacked Kabera on Rubaga Road.
When he shouted for help, the men allegedly fled in a black car without number plates. Before leaving, they delivered a warning.
“Even if you run to America, we will find you and kill you,” the letter quoted the attackers as saying.
The village council asked the Old Kampala Police Station to investigate and assist Kabera, saying he feared for his life.
The document, which bears the station’s receipt stamp dated October 23, 2023, did not identify the attackers.
Kabera had also raised fears for his safety in 2021, when local leaders appealed to refugee protection authorities for assistance.
The Homeland Newspaper is yet to establish what action followed those appeals.
Before his life in exile, Kabera was known in Rwanda for a career that combined military service with music.
He joined the army in 1993 and immediately became part of its military band, according to a July 2020 profile published by Rwanda’s The New Times. Before that, he had sung in church choirs.
As a soloist in the Army Jazz Band and an independent performer, he became widely known as Sergeant Robert.
His music featured in Rwanda’s Liberation Day commemorations, giving him a public profile beyond the barracks.
Kabera also served as a military instructor.
By November 2020, however, he had fled Rwanda and was seeking protection in Uganda.
In a media interview after his arrival, Kabera said he had crossed the border on November 19 because he feared persecution.
He attributed part of his predicament to his relationship with the family of the late Fred Rwigema, the first commander of the Rwandan Patriotic Front.
Rwigema was Kabera’s uncle.
Rwandan authorities presented a different account.
In a statement dated November 23, 2020, the Rwanda Defence Force said its Military Prosecution Department was investigating allegations that Kabera had defiled a family member in Ndera Sector, Gasabo District, on November 21.
The alleged victim was reported to be 15 years old.
Kabera denied the accusation, describing it as fabricated and politically motivated.
He maintained that he had already entered Uganda two days before the alleged offence.
The final outcome of that investigation could not be established from the information available.
In May 2022, Ugandan security personnel arrested Kabera at his home in Masanafu, Kampala, amid allegations of gun smuggling and unlawful possession of firearms.
We reported earlier that at the time that his lawyer said a search of the residence had found no guns. The publication also reported that Kabera had obtained refugee status in Uganda.
Four years later, his brother’s search ended at a murder scene in Mpigi.
Investigators are expected to establish who killed Kabera, reconstruct his final movements and determine whether the threats he had reported have any bearing on his death.
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