Patrick Karegeya: Inside Love triangle that caused death of singer Jean Christophe Matata

Patrick Karegeya (L) and the late flamboyant popular singer Jean Christophe Matata

A Burundian woman and her entire family is gripped in horrifying fear since January 2011 when a love affairs involving exiled Rwanda former spy chief Patrick Karegeya and deceased popular singer Jean Christophe Matata went sour. On January 03, Matata died abruptly in a South African hospital but no cause was reported.

News reports said at the time that he had died from multiple organ failure, but what caused the bizarre situation remains a mystery until now. A woman, whose names have been withheld for fear of reprisals, is hiding in Burundi after disappearing from South Africa. RUSHYASHYA – A Kinyarwanda language weekly in Rwanda on Monday carried a long story in which the woman and her brother narrate their ordeals.

In late December 2010, singer Jean Christophe Matata was in South Africa for a series of concerts in Pretoria and Johannesburg. While there, he established contact with this woman. The woman says she had an affair with the prolific singer but it had ended 7 years earlier (2003).

“I used to be a close friend to late Matata even still in Burundi”, said the woman in tears during her 3hour interview on the Burundian shore of Lake Tanganyika.  “I hadn’t seen Matata for seven years but we met again when he came to South Africa”.

Genesis of the troubles

The woman narrates that during her stay in South Africa, she had been in a stormy sexual relationship with Patrick Karegeya, whose wife and children live in Canada.

The woman says she agreed to go out with Matata on the night of December 31^st 2010 when it became apparent to her that Karegeya had travelled to Tanzania or Somalia. To her surprise, she received a text message from Col. Karegeya, reading, “My trip has been canceled. If you can, come over and join me here […]” (“urugendo rwanjye rwapfuye ubishoboye wansaga hano (…)”.).

The woman, without hesitating, went to meet up her Karegeya whom she describes as “boss” because he was paying her regularly for sex. The woman says she was afraid while heading there because she thought Karegeya was well aware that she had had sex with with Matata.

Then, what happened when she met up with Karegeya?

“It was like I had been struck by lightning because Karegeya was telling me how I met up with Matata, where I met him, all that we did as if he was there. He told me he didn’t trust Matata; that he [Matata] can be used by his enemies in Rwanda and they can task him [Matata] to harm him [Col. Karegeya] by just using me. I confessed that indeed I had sex with Matata but that he didn’t ask me anything about Karegeya”, the woman narrates. 

Karegeya, apparently unconvinced, gave the woman the assignment to go and search through Matata’s belongings as well as search through his cell phone to see whose calls he had received and details in messages.

The woman says she was hesitant but he convinced her that he would provide her with “medicine” which she would pour into Matata’s drink – while they would be both in the room. The “medicine” would eventually make Matata go into roaring sleep – allowing her to do anything with her time without any disturbances. The woman implemented the plan as set.

Once her mission was over, according to her account to RUSHYASHYA, the woman immediately phoned Karegeya, who, in return, sent over a certain Frank Ntwali – a brother-in-law to Kayumba Nyamwasa (another exiled Rwandan General living in South Africa) – and the girl joined him at a hotel and gave him Matata’s documents and cell phone to check them up and retrieve whatever they needed. Frank left with the materials and the woman went back to the room.  

The following morning when Matata woke up, he complained of severe headache, dizziness and was vomiting. And upon hearing this, the woman said she became afraid and refrained from accompanying Matata to his last concert which took place in Cape Town. Jean-Christophe Matata died on January 3, following an end-of-year concert. People who saw him on stage at the time reported Matata looked exhausted after the concert on the New Year eve and was rushed to hospital where he died.

Some people who accompanied Jean Christophe Matata have revealed previously that he started showing signs of weakness before and during the concert he held in Cape Town. They say crucial documents also went missing from his hotel room.

This lady, sobbing constantly, narrated that by the time she got the news of Matata’s death, her mind was clear with confirmation that the “medicine” from Karageya was indeed a poisonous substance. The woman immediately changed her cell phone so that Karegeya could not contact her anymore because she was convinced he could kill her.

But on several occasions, Karegeya, sent several message through Frank Ntwali, telling her that he needed her. She grew concerned about her safety and feared Col. Karegeya was planning to kill her, too. And that’s how she made up her mind to leave South Africa for Burundi, her home country.

Matata’s son Pappy Matata is furious. He lives at Kivugiza in Nyamirambo, Kigali, and is angry no independent autopsy was done on his father.

Patrick Karegeya: Inside Love triangle that caused death of singer Jean Christophe Matata