After FPR took power in 1994, when RoseKabuye was the mayor of Kigali, many male Hutus were rounded up and confined into containers. David NGENDAHIMANA was one of them, though back then he was only a youth. FPR put him in a container in Kigali with 70 other people. They locked the container and started the fire underneath the container (there are thousands of Rwandans who suffered this fate and very soon you will hear their testimonies).
Fortunately for Ngendahimana, when he was put in the container, it was full and he was squeezed in standing by the door. A few days later they came to open the container (through Red cross pressure) and everyone of the 70 was dead except David Ndendahimana and one more person who was also by the door. Upon opening, David fell to the ground, his feet badly burned but at least he was still alive.
Red Cross took him to the hospital and this is how he survived. There is a video where Mr Ndahayo gives this testimony and it will be published very soon.
Through other imprisonment that followed because he would not be silenced but fought for his rights, David was imprisoned. In prison, he was again tortured and through RPF beatings, his kidneys damaged.
All Rwandans know that RPF tortures prisoners especially male Hutu; aiming especially at vital organs in their torture. I have a distant relative who survived similar tortures and today his kidneys are damaged and he had to receive kidney implants. One day soon, she and many others who survived will testify!
Back to our story… David was so badly beaten that it damaged his kidneys. David died prematurely on January 8, 2024 as a result of such torture(s).
David was a freedom fighters alongside his wife with whom they have many children. The wife was also imprisoned with all the children when they were caught trying to escape to Uganda. David was a fearless freedom fighter. When the famous journalist Cyuma Hassan was arbitrary arrested, David boldly went and stood with him in his house. So when the Rwanda Police came to arrest Cyuma, DAVID was with him.
Rwanda is the only country in the world I know of where the government does not allow persecuted people to flee. As I told you previously, former Rwanda president Pasteur Bizimungu cannot leave the country. Former president contenders Victoire Ingabire ,DianeRwigara and many others are not allowed to leave the country. Rwanda gives no choice to those who are persecuted but to stay and be persecuted … even be killed but they won’t let them flee the country!
I invite all Rwanda who survived FPR containers slow death and those whose family members found death in these containers to come forward and speak up through blogs, books, videos and even sharing on social media. The only way to defeat evil is to expose and confront evil.
Farewell brother David Ngendahimana . You run your race and you have finished strong – You are a hero! Heroes do not die but they live in the heart of those who would follow in their footsteps.