Peter Egessa, a Ugandan Information Technology (IT) expert based in Kigali Rwanda, has been missing for 28 days and his family is desperate.
According to the family, Egessa who has been working as a software developer in Kigali, since 2015, was last seen on December 10 last year.
“He went missing on December 10, with information reaching us from his employer and through social media (facebook) indicating that he could have been taken by Rwanda security operatives,” Emmanuel Musengeri, a younger brother of Egessa, said.
Egessa, who has been working with Up Type in Kigali, was living at a place called Remera near the airport.
“I last communicated with him on December 05, through Discord where we always discussed our software projects, but he also communicated with our elder sister, Annet Ajambo Kikomeko, on December 08, through WhatsApp,” Musengeri narrated.
He told Ajambo that he would return to Uganda for Christmas by December 22. However, the family said Egessa has not been seen anywhere since that last communication.
After failing to get him on his known phone numbers, the family reached out to the immigration office in Uganda, whose record showed that Egessa last crossed the Uganda- Rwanda border last year on September 18, on his way to Kigali.
Someone in Kigali whose phone number was concealed as ”private number” contacted Egessa’s employer in Kigali, asking about Egessa. The person wanted to know everything about Egessa that his employer knew, Musengeri said.
Musengeri said Egessa’s employer later discovered that the concealed number belonged to the immigration department, after inquiring from the telecom service provider. He went to the immigration office to find out why he was being asked about Egessa.
The employer, according to Musengeri, then asked the Rwanda immigration officials the whereabouts of Egessa. However, they told him that they did not know where he was.
Ajambo said efforts to engage Rwandese security authorities about the matter have been fruitless.
“We have failed to get hold of the security in Rwanda because we have to first engage security here. But what we have gathered, is that he was interrogated by the Rwanda Inspection Bureau,” Ajambo said.
Police case
The family has since reported the matter to the CID headquarters. Charles Twine, the spokesperson CID, confirmed that the case had been registered and investigations into the matter had commenced.
“The complainant came to us on December 29 and by last Thursday, it had been assigned. We investigate cases within our jurisdiction but for those that are beyond our borders, we engage Interpol and the foreign affairs ministry,” Twine said.
Reuben Onyango, Egessa’s father, said the family had also petitioned the permanent secretary of the Ministry of East African Community Affairs and Julius Maganda, Minister of State for East African Community Affairs.
“We have been advised to contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to liaise with the Rwandan embassy in Uganda to help find him,” Musengeri journalists yesterday.
There were also reports of two other Ugandans missing in Rwanda.
