Rwanda has scoffed at accusations that its embassies abroad are actively engaged in the recruitment of spies and threatening of Rwandan refugees who are critical of the government.

In a statement released on Monday, Rwanda’s embassy in Singapore claimed that stories alleging that Rwandan dissidents are threatened because they “refused to be an agent of influence” are based on “rhetoric that seeks to discredit the government of Rwanda.”

In October, Australian newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Noel Zihabamwe, a Rwandan who settled in Australia in 2006 as a refugee, was allegedly threatened during a community meeting in Sydney in 2017.

Mr Zihabamwe alleged that his brothers back in Rwanda were abducted after he reported the alleged threats to Australian authorities and the media. He also claimed that Rwandan spies in Sydney are managed by Rwanda’s High Commission in Singapore because Kigali doesn’t have an embassy in Australia.

Rwanda trashed his claims, noting that Mr Zihabamwe is a self-proclaimed subversive element, who has been “working hard to encourage insurrection against the leadership in Rwanda.”

“He joined the Rwanda National Congress (RNC), a terrorist group which runs propaganda campaigns against Rwanda and is responsible for several deadly terror attacks in Kigali and in Northern Rwanda,” the statement reads.

Rwanda trashed his claims, noting that Mr Zihabamwe is a self-proclaimed subversive element, who has been “working hard to encourage insurrection against the leadership in Rwanda.”

“He joined the Rwanda National Congress (RNC), a terrorist group which runs propaganda campaigns against Rwanda and is responsible for several deadly terror attacks in Kigali and in Northern Rwanda,” the statement reads.

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