Rwanda denies rumours President Kagame is sick

The Rwandan government on Tuesday denied rumours that President Paul Kagame was sick following his absence from public appearances in recent weeks.

Kagame, 67, has not been seen in public since June 6, as evidenced by his X account, generating rumours online and in the country given his usual energetic and omnipresent role.

For many Rwandans, Kagame is a visionary hero who modernised the country but others see him as a ruthless dictator who violently stamps out opposition.

He has effectively ruled Rwanda since 1994, when he led a rebel uprising to overthrow the extremist Hutu regime responsible for the genocide that killed more than 800,000 members of the Tutsi minority.

Kagame was re-elected last year for a fourth term with more than 99 percent of the vote.

A dissident based in Canada claimed this week that the president was suffering from a “brain injury” being treated in Germany, though a German diplomatic source told AFP they had no information on the matter.

“There is nothing to be worried or concerned about,” Rwandan government spokesperson Yolande Makolo told Taarifa, a local news site.

“He is a human being, and like anyone else, he takes time to rest. There is nothing unusual or alarming,” an unnamed “family member” told the same site.

The Rwandan army, in a post on X, labelled as “fake” a statement falsely attributed to them on social media, claiming the president was facing a “serious health crisis”.