By Mohammed Mupenda*
Disturbing claims by a Rwandan Exiled Opposition Leader that President Paul Kagame was dead were put to rest when the Rwandan leader was seen chairing a cabinet meeting later in the day.
The opposition figure Thomas Nahimana insinuated that Kagame was dead in an interview with Vox Africa-France Television. Nahimana, a former Roman Catholic Priest said he had credible sources that Kagame was under palliative care and was kept alive for political reasons.
Tuesday, the false news circulated on Twitter and Facebook was then picked up by media all over the world including radio stations and French online websites.
It all started with the message: “Paul Kagame has just left us. RIP.”, Posted on the microblogging site Tuesday, August 25 around 1:30 pm. Another tweet an hour later was posted by relatives saying that Paul Kagame is not dead.
As Rwandan oppositions all over the world were sharing the footage with comments on Facebook, twitter and in WhatsApp groups, President Paul Kagame appeared on Wednesday afternoon chairing the cabinet meeting.
Twitter and Facebook networks peddle all kinds of information including real, false, harmless and terrible. Thus, many personalities have been the target of false rumors of death spread on social media like wildfire.
Tuesday, it turned to Kagame, Rwandan Head of State to be buried by a funeral tweet.
A recent poll conducted by the Celebrity Post showed that 71% of respondents think that Paul Kagame death rumors are not funny anymore.
Thomas Nahimana is a former Catholic Priest and a Rwandan Politician who serves as President of Rwandan People Government in Exile from February 2017. He is the leader of political movement he founded called Ishema Party and key figure in the opposition to President Paul Kagame.
A cult figure on the African leadership scene, President Kagame is highly respected across the continent as many see in his transformation of Rwanda the kind of leadership that Africa needs.
