Departures of note

Tom Byabagamba was a decorated colonel in the Rwanda Defense Force who served as commander of the presidential guard, responsible for the security of President Paul Kagame. He worked in the president's personal protection detail from 1990 to 2010 before being removed from his post following an apparent falling out with Kagame.

In August 2014, Byabagamba was detained along with Brigadier Frank Rusagara. In 2016, the Military High Court convicted him of inciting insurrection and tarnishing the government's image, sentencing him to 21 years in prison. The Court of Appeal reduced the sentence to 15 years in 2019 and stripped him of his rank.

His trial drew criticism from human rights organizations including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention determined that his detention was arbitrary and violated international law. Byabagamba died in prison in August 2026 at age 59.