Pegasus scandal: Rwanda targets South African President, several others

JUBA – As more details emerge from the Pegasus Project undertaken by Amnesty International and Forbidden Stories, the latest leak reveals that the government of Rwanda has used the Pegasus spyware to monitor dissidents and political opponents within the country, region, and beyond.

On top of its list of targets was Cyril Ramaphosa, the former African Union Chairperson and the President of South Africa. The revelation, made last week, opened a diplomatic can of worms with South Africa issuing a contemptuous statement.

The Ramaphosa administration says it has since tasked its intelligence agencies to investigate whether the personal mobile phone of the president was tapped.

Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, an acting minister in the office of the president condemned the alleged action by the Rwandan government likening it to the infringement of sovereignty.

“Of course, we will not be happy that we have been targeted because we believe that not only infringes on the privacy of the president but also infringes on the sovereignty of this country to make its own decisions without other countries trying to preempt those decisions and influence them and also try to undermine those decisions,” Ntshayheni told reporters.

The acting minister said the government disapproved of “unacceptable means” rather than legal diplomatic channels to obtain information on South Africa.

Weak security precautions

Following the report of the alleged hacking, cybersecurity expert Andy Mashaile scathingly criticized South Africa’s security precautions.

“Those who look after the president were supposed to have known,” he told South Africa’s State broadcaster, SABC.

How Ramaphosa’s phone got tapped

According to The Guardian, a partner news outlet in the Pegasus Project, Ramaphosa’s mobile phone was selected by Rwanda in 2019 after strained diplomatic relations between the two countries triggered by the death of Rwanda spy chief and critic of Paul Kagame, Patrick Karegeya, was found strangled in a hotel room in Johannesburg in 2014.

Ever since there have been accusations that Rwanda continued to use surveillance technology against dissidents in South Africa.

However, the foreign ministers from the two countries met in June this year in Pretoria to restore their relations. It remained unclear why Rwanda would monitor the phone of Ramaphosa.

Other targets of Rwanda-acquired Pegasus spyware

While Ramaphosa tops the list of Rwanda spy targets, he is not the only potential victim. There are many more; some have died and others fled to exile.

With 3,500 contact numbers, Rwanda’s list of spy targets includes people from Rwandan and foreign nationals.

From Rwanda, the Pegasus spyware was allegedly used on Carine Knimba (Paul Rusesabagina’s daughter), Dr. David Himbabra (exiled Canada), Jean-Paul Turayishimye, now exiled in the United States.

Other spy targets include Bob Mugabe (journalist in Rwanda), Eric Bagiruwubusa (VOA journalist), Gatera Gashabana (defense attorney in Rwanda for troubled politicians), Frank Ntwali (exiled in South Africa), Kennedy Gihana (exiled in South Africa), Etienne Mutabazi (exiled in South Africa), and missing radio journalist Cassien Ntamuhanga who was abducted by Rwanda state security intelligence while in exile in Mozambique in June this year.

Besides, President Ramaphosa, Rwanda’s other foreign potential spy targets are Gen. Alain-Gillaume Bunyoni, the Prime Minister of Burundi, Kenny Katombe, a Reuters journalist from DR Congo attached with Kigali.

Also on the list are; Lamnbert Mende, a former Minister and ally of former DRC President Joseph Kabila, Albert Yuma, also an aide of Kabila, and Jean Bamanisa Saydi, the Governor of DRC’s Ituri Province 12.

Damage control

In response to the damning report, the government of Rwanda wrote to the Pegasus Project partners saying the report was “completely false” and “meant to strain” Rwanda’s relations beyond the national frontiers

“These false accusations are part of an ongoing campaign to cause tensions between Rwanda and other countries, and to sow disinformation about Rwanda domestically and internationally,” it said.

As reported earlier, the Pegasus spyware is a surveillance technology tool sold to governments around the world by Israeli software development firm NSO Group.