Bujumbura : grey areas surrounding the case of Ruboneka, arrested and rushed to Kinshasa

SOS Médias Burundi
Bujumbura, July 29, 2025 – Arrested on Sunday, July 27 in Bujumbura, the commercial capital of Burundi, by Burundian security services, Laurent Ruboneka Musabwa, an employee of the DRC embassy and a leading figure in the Banyamulenge community, was discreetly transferred to Kinshasa less than 24 hours later. This operation, carried out in total silence by the Burundian and Congolese authorities, has raised serious concerns and raised many questions about the motives for this expedited procedure.
Laurent Ruboneka Musabwa, a Congolese national and member of the Banyamulenge community, is notably secretary of the Shikama Banyamulenge Mutuality in Bujumbura and president of the association of survivors of the Gatumba massacre, which occurred on August 13, 2004. This massacre, perpetrated in a refugee camp run by the UNHCR located about twenty kilometers from Bujumbura, claimed the lives of more than 160 people, mostly Banyamulenge. He also works at the Embassy of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in Burundi.
According to consistent reports, the agents informed him that members of the Congolese intelligence services simply wanted to « talk » to him. Less than 24 hours later, Ruboneka found himself on a flight to Kinshasa, escorted by Congolese agents.
According to his close friends, Ruboneka received neither an official summons nor any details regarding the accusations against him. What was supposed to be a simple interview quickly turned into a discreet transfer to the Congolese capital.
The speed of the operation and the lack of official communication from both Burundian and Congolese authorities caused great concern among those close to him.
« A Burundian agent secretly slipped me the information this morning. He told me that Laurent had already left the country, escorted by members of Congolese intelligence. Everything was done in complete silence, without even notifying his family, » confided a close friend, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The man’s wife went to the embassy on Monday to inquire about the situation but was not received, SOS Médias Burundi learned from sources close to the case.
Official silence and questions
Since his transfer, neither the Burundian nor Congolese authorities have issued an official statement. This silence reinforces questions about the legality of the proceedings, Ruboneka’s fate in Kinshasa, and the true reasons for his arrest.
An explosive regional context
This arrest comes as the region is gripped by escalating diplomatic and military tensions. In recent months, several members of the Banyamulenge community, including refugees, have been arrested in Burundi, accused of collaborating with the M23 or spying for Rwanda.
Burundi, a military ally of Kinshasa, has deployed approximately 10,000 soldiers to the DRC to fight alongside the FARDC, the Congolese army, and the Wazalendo militias supported by the Kinshasa authorities, against the M23 and the Congo River Alliance, a politico-military movement to which the M23 is affiliated, which now controls the provincial capitals of North and South Kivu in eastern Congo, as well as several other strategic mineral-rich areas.
Gitega accuses Kigali of supporting these rebel movements and planning incursions, while Rwanda rejects these accusations and denounces the alleged support of Kinshasa and the Burundian authorities for the Hutu genocidal FDLR (Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda). In this climate of mistrust, the arrest and express transfer of Laurent Ruboneka Musabwa to Kinshasa sends a worrying signal to the Congolese diaspora in Burundi, already weakened by cross-border political pressures and security suspicions.