This is linked
to a tuck-shops war in downtown Harare. Nsengimana, who has been in prison
since June, claims he was kidnapped by agents who claimed he is a member of the
Rwandan spies and an enemy of the State and wanted him deported.
The Congolese
national also alleges one immigration official identified is now complicit in
the case by arresting and detaining him adding that this is a work of jealousy
by refugee businessmen in the country who are seeking to have him out of the
country. He said the purported “intelligence” against him is not evidence but
gossip weaponized by those who wish to eliminate commercial competition.
He has since
instructed his lawyers to write to ZICC seeking their intervention and to
investigate the case.
In a letter
dated November 7 and addressed to ZICC executive secretary Nsengimana raised
several complaints against the State agents.
“On or about
the 10 of June 2025, our client was kidnapped by a contingent of individuals
who he claims presented themselves as members of the Central Intelligence
Organisation whom, if given the chance, he is capable of identifying .
“His captors
communicated the spurious allegations against him. They threatened and ordered
him to leave Zimbabwe, having been falsely branded an “enemy of the State.”
“This
designation was based on the unsubstantiated claim that he is an operative of
Rwanda’s National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS), allegedly deployed
to target Rwandan refugees who settled in Zimbabwe post 1994,” the letter
reads.
Nsengimana
claims he told the agents that he is not a member of Rwanda’s National
Intelligence and Security Service but a genuine and recognised refugee from the
Democratic Republic of Congo, who settled in Zimbabwe without any connection
with Rwanda.
“He alleges
that he told the alleged agents that certain Rwandan refugees who settled in
Zimbabwe just after the 1994 Rwandan genocide were the ones who were just
seeing shadows and were on a frolic of their own, giving the security agents in
Zimbabwe false information for purposes of weeding out of Zimbabwe other
refugees like Desire Nsengimana who they regarded as threats in business
circles,” the letter says.
“There was
nothing to the allegations as it was a simple case of jealousy and rivalry
wherein his detractors sought and still seek to equate his business acumen with
state sponsorship.”
His lawyers
said Nsemisanga is not a spy but foreigner from the Democratic Republic of
Congo who has settled in Zimbabwe as a genuine refugee since November 2014 and
his status as a refugee has not been withdrawn.
“Subsequent to
his kidnapping, he was then handed over to one Immigration Compliance Officer
Machona who then instructed him to visit the Immigration Department Offices the
next day, the 11” of June 2025. “He was then advised by Machona that he was
going to be detained at Harare Remand Prison as a prohibited person for
deportation to Rwanda.
“He alleges
that Machona advised him that his arrest and subsequent detention was not up to
the Immigration Department, but some powerful members of the Central
Intelligence Organisation connected to a clique of refugees from Rwanda.
‘‘Mr Nsengimana
was perplexed by such abuse of State apparatus in the name of State Security,
yet he is not even a danger to the Republic of Zimbabwe,” the letter says.
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