James Kabarebe: Unpacking The Powerful Rwandan Minister Sanctioned By US Over DRC Conflict

Last month, the US Treasury Department sanctioned Rwanda’s Minister of State for Regional Integration, James Kabarebe, saying he was central to his country’s support for the M23 rebel group currently accused of destabilizing Eastern DRC.

When Rwanda’s ex-spy chief Patrick Karegeya was murdered in South Africa in 2014, his former brother-in-arms James Kabarebe was blunt: “When you choose to be a dog, you die like a dog.”

The line quoted in Rwandan media illustrates the former Rwandan Army chief of staff’s ruthlessness and loyalty to President Paul Kagame.

According to the US, Kabarebe manages much of Rwanda’s and M23’s revenue generation from Congo’s mineral resources, referring to the trade of tin and tantalum, which U.N. experts say nets the group $800,000 monthly.

Western nations have accused Rwanda of supporting the M23 with arms and as well as backing from the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF), accusations Rwanda denies.

“Today’s action underscores our intent to hold accountable key officials and leaders like Kabarebe and Kanyuka, who are enabling the RDF and M23’s destabilising activities in the eastern DRC. The United States remains committed to ensuring a peaceful resolution to this conflict,” Bradley Smith, acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence said on 20th February, 2025.

Born in Ibanda in Western Uganda in 1959 to ethnic Tutsi refugees, Kaberebe has been President Kagame’s right-hand man for many years in the Great Lakes region. He is an alumnus of Makerere University, where he received a BA in Economics and Political Science.

He grew up as an ethnic Tutsi Rwandan refugee in Uganda, taking part in President Yoweri Museveni’s seizure of power in 1986, before returning to his home country Rwanda as part of the Tutsi-led force that halted the 1994 genocide there.

Two years later, he helped lead the revolt that toppled dictator Mobutu Sese Seko in Congo, then known as Zaire.

He served briefly in Congo as head of the military under President Laurent Kabila, a Rwandan ally at the time. After Kabila had pushed him aside, he led an assault with hijacked airplanes at a Congolese air base in an unsuccessful attempt to dislodge Kabila.

President Kagame’s Rwanda has dismissed the US action on Kabarebe, saying Kigali’s aim was only to secure its border and an “irreversible end to the politics of armed ethnic extremism in our region”.

“Rwandans have the right to live in peace and without the perpetual threat of insecurity originating from the DRC. Punitive measures, including sanctions, make no contribution toward long-term security, peace and stability for all the countries of the Great Lakes region,” the country’s foreign affairs ministry said in a statement on 20th February 2025.

However, the Democratic Republic of Congo welcomed the US sanctions, saying it wanted to see more such measures, saying it was the beginning of a long series of sanctions they want to see.

“This marks the beginning of a long series of sanctions that we want to be more robust from the UN Security Council, the European Union and other partners in order to force Rwanda to withdraw its troops and cease its criminal activities on our soil,” government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said in a statement posted on social media.