Tribert Rujugiro Ayabatwa

Tribert Rujugiro Ayabatwa
Born	c. 1941 Nyanza, Rwanda
Died	April 16, 2024(2024-04-16) (aged 82–83) Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Nationality	Rwandan
Occupation	Entrepreneur

Tribert Rujugiro Ayabatwa (c. 1941 – 16 April 2024) was a Rwandan entrepreneur, best known as founder of the Pan African Tobacco Group, the lsrgest tobacco company in Africa. In his later years he fell out with Rwandan President Paul Kagame and left the country. Kagame accused him of funding rebel groups and of economic crimes, and tried to get him extradited from Uganda, leading to rift between the tow countries. The government seized and sold his property in Rwanda. Rujugiro died in April 2024 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Early years (c. 1941–1960)

Tribert Rujugiro Ayabatwa was born in Nyanza, in the Southern Province of Rwanda, in 1941. His family was relatively poor. Rujugiro said that his home was near the palace of King Mutara III Rudahigwa, and he and many other children would be invited to the palace to entertain the king. Rujugiro left school after completing the 8th grade.

Burundi (c. 1960–1990)

When he was 19 Rujugiro fled to Burundi to escape the political upheavals in Rwanda. He got work at the Post Office in Burundi as a clerk and typist. In his three years working there he learned French. He then took work with a petroleum storage company, followed by unsuccessful attempts to earn money as a baker and a gold trader. When he was 29 he started to import wheat, flour, salt and cigarettes, and was sucessful in maintaining imports despite violence along the Tanzanian border.

In 1978 Ayabatwa decided to use his profits to manufacture cigarettes in Burundi rather than importing them. In the 1980s the Burundi Tobacco Company (BTC) started to clear large areas of forest in Kirundo Province to supply wood to the ovens used to dry tobacco, but did not undertake reforestation. The BTC became the basis for the Pan African Tobacco Group (PTG).

Rujugiro says he joined the struggle in Burundi against President Juvénal Habyarimana, who was defeated in 1994. In 1987 President Pierre Buyoya ovethrew Colonel Jean-Baptiste Bagaza and Rujiro was imprisoned in Bujumbura. He was charged with aiding the previous government, and his businesses were nationalized.. Ayabatwa escaped from prison in 1990 and fled to South Africa. He brought his family to South Africa and set up his corporate headquarters there. In 1995 he returned to Rwanda, where he lived for 15 years.

Rwanda (c. 1995–2010)

The Pan African Tobacco Group (PTG), which manufactures Supermatch cigarettes, later expanded until it was manufacturing and operating in Angola, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. Rujugiro bought large areas of land in the northwestern West Nile sub-region of Uganda, where his Meridian Tobacco Company's subsidiary, the Leaf Tobacco Company, employed thousands of people growing tobacco. PTG became the largest tobacco company in Africa. As of 2013 the PTG subsidiaries included Leaf Tobacco & Commodities in Uganda, Vision Tobacco in Dubai, Barco Trading in Angola, Burundi Tobacco Company in Burundi, Leaf Tobacco & Commodities in Nigeria, the Congo Tobacco Company, Mastermind Tobacco Company in Tanzania and Arkan Leaf in Angola.

Rujugiro was a close ally of Paul Kagame during the 1990-1994 Rwandan Civil War. Rujugiro became economic advisor to the President Kagame, and assisted in the finances of the Rwandan Patriotic Front party. His Kigali Investment Company (KIC) owned the Union Trade Center (UTC), a mall in Kigali that opened in 2006. It held 81 shops, restaurants and other businesses. Rujugiro owned 97% of the property.

In 2008 a United Nations security report said he was one of the people funding the war in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. This was later found to be incorrect and the case was closed. Before leaving Rwanda in 2010, Rujugiro was fighting charges of tax evasion in South Africa and the United Kingdom. He is said to have asked the Rwandan government to protect him in these cases, but was refused. In 2008 he was arrested in the United Kingdom for tax fraud in South Africa, and pleaded guilty.

Last years (2010–2024)

After 2010 he divided his time between South Africa and Dubai. After his departure the Rwandan authorities accused him of financing rebel groups who wanted to overthrow Kagama, and with tax evasion and other crimes. From exile, Rujugiro spoke in favour of Rwandan opposition groups such as the Rwanda National Congress (RNC). The Rwandans linked Rujugiro to General Kayumba Nyamwasa and the former Rwandan head of intelligence, Colonel Patrick Karegeya, both of whom were exiled in South Africa. In 2011 the Rwandan police seized eight heavy trucks owned by the PTC's subsidiary of the eastern DRC, the Congo Tobacco Company. They claimed that the trucks were being used for "terror activities" organized by Nyamwasa and Karegeya.

By 2013 Rujugiro was head of a group of seven companies that employed 26,000 people making cement, tea, plastic shoes, beer, snack foods and cigarettes. The PTG was operating in ten countries and trading in 27 African and Middle Eastern countries, with annual revenues in excess of $250 million. Rujugiro had homes in South Africa and Dubai. In January 2013 Rujugiro relinquished operational control of the Pan African Tobacco Group to his son, Paul Nkwaya Ayabatwa. He remained chairman of Pan African Tobacco. He was featured in a [[Forbes Magazine}} article in 2014, which called him the richest tobacco manufacturer and trader in Africa. He set up the Tribert Rujugiro Ayabatwa Foundation (TRA), a charity, which funds youth training.

In 2017 authorities in Rwanda declared his assets in the country were "abandoned properties", which allowed them to be auctioned or taken over. That year, the government sold the Union Trade Center (UTC) mall for $6.8 million. Rujugiro told the East African Court of Justice that the property was worth $20 million. The court agreed the takeover and auction were illegal. The EACJ awarded Rujugiro $1 million in damages in August 2022.

Rwanda tried to persuade the Ugandan government to close the PTG's Meridian Tobacco Company subsidiary, which had operations in Arua. In 2018 Rujugiro met with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. He said that Museveni tried to convince him to sell his businesses in Uganda to reduce tensions with Rwanda, but not to feel pressured. Rukugiro said that he would try to find a buyer, but had not suceeded before he died. Uganda refused to extradite Rujugiro to Rwanda, which is said to have contributed to the breakdown in diplomatic relations between the two countries that laster from February 2019 to January 2022.

The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) is a reputable organization with offices in Germany, New York and London. In 2021 it published a report on efforts in East Africa to fight extremism, crime, corruption, and illegal trade. The report said Rujugiro played a central role in the illegal trade in tobacco in the region, and the trade funded extremist groups. The CEP report repeated the UN Group of Experts 2008 allegation, but not the dismissal of the charges.

Rujugiro died on 16 April 2024 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. His family said he was watching a movie with a grandson at his home after dinner when he died.

Sources

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