by Khethiwe Chelemu, Times Live.

Gen. Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa – shot in Johannesburg in June 2010.

When former Rwandan Army chief Faustin Nyamwasa survived an assassination attempt, a plan was hatched to finish him off as he lay in critical condition at Sandton’s Morningside Hospital, a Johannesburg court heard on Wednesday as the suspects appeared.

Wealthy Rwandan businessman Pascal Kanyandekwe, 29, is alleged to be the mastermind of the hospital plot which was to take place in the next days after the shooting, according to details from the brief court appearance.

The hospital plot failed. Police found out about it and arrested the gunmen on their way there.

Kanyandekwe, who owns an aviation company in his country and is allegedly on the Rwandan government’s payroll, appeared briefly at the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

Nyamwasa was shot in the stomach in the drive of his Athol Mews home when he returned from a shopping trip with his wife, Rosette, in June. The driver was stopped by a man on foot, who asked him to open his window and fired on Nyamwasa. His wife has blamed Rwandan President Paul Kagame for the attack.

Nyamwasa, an outspoken critic of Kagame, fled from Kigali with his family in February. Since then, they have not had any peace.

Kanyandekwe allegedly paid Nyamwasa’s driver, Somalian Ahmed Ali, 26, for information on their target. Judgment on Ali’s bail application will be handed down on September 2.

The two men, the latest to be arrested, appeared with three co-accused. They are yet to plead to charges of attempted murder, incitement to commit murder, and possession of stolen property.

The case against the five men was postponed to September 8.

[Times Live]