Speaking in a candid conversation on The Long Form podcast hosted by Sanny Ntayombya, Onyango-Obbo described the RPF as Africa’s first true statehood movement and shared vivid memories of encountering President Paul Kagame, who at the time was commander of its armed wing, the RPA, and whose quiet resolve in Rwanda’s rugged bush foretold his role in transforming a shattered nation.

Onyango-Obbo described the RPF’s struggle, which ended the 100-day Genocide against the Tutsi in July 1994, as unique.

“It was not a classical liberation movement against dictatorship,” he said. “It was to get the largely Tutsi refugee population to return home.”

He likened the movement’s geopolitical significance to the forces behind Israel’s founding, noting its improbable success. Operating deep in Rwanda’s hinterland, far from coastal supply lines, the RPF faced steep odds as a minority force, never exceeding 15% of Rwanda’s population even with full Tutsi support. Yet, under Kagame’s command, it triumphed.

Onyango-Obbo revealed that his access to the RPF, facilitated by childhood ties in Fort Portal and the group’s openness to African journalists, offered a rare perspective.

"The RPF was one of the first movements to give preference to African journalists to cover them," he recalled.

Onyango-Obbo, then a budding journalist, travelled to Rwanda’s war-torn north and saw stark contrasts—abandoned government barracks stocked with beer and cigarettes, while barefoot RPF fighters in tattered t-shirts pushed forward.

Among them, Kagame, then a Major General, struck him as contemplative yet tough. His quiet resolve anchored the movement’s gruelling campaign after he stepped in to lead following the death of Fred Rwigema, just one day after the liberation war began.

“He was almost exactly as he is today,” he said, noting Kagame’s unassuming demeanour.

Unlike flamboyant rebel leaders like Angola’s Jonas Savimbi, Onyango-Obbo revealed, Kagame’s authority was subtle.

"He was contemplative, thoughtful, not rushed to judgment, but tough. Your first sense would be, ’How is he the leader?’ He didn’t broadcast it visibly. As president, he has trappings that make him stand out, but back then, unlike Jonas Savimbi, who lived like a king in the bush, Kagame didn’t," he observed.

"You needed to know him to understand his place. If you were a visitor, guessing the leader, you wouldn’t pick him."

In the unforgiving Muhabura mountains, where RPF fighters endured brutal cold and some froze to death with guns still clutched in their hands, Paul Kagame’s unyielding grit stood out.

Onyango-Obbo, witnessing the rebels’ resilience in the mountains, became convinced of their unstoppable force.

“If they came down the mountain,” he believed, “they wouldn’t be stopped.”

Onyango-Obbo noted that Kagame’s relentless persistence, which later drove Rwanda’s successful methane extraction projects on Lake Kivu despite numerous failures, confirmed his unwavering belief that no challenge was insurmountable.

"His views have broadened, but he’s the same person. The idea of impossible doesn’t exist for him. He wouldn’t have succeeded if it did," he explained.

"For example, after the war, they explored methane extraction. They had many failures, but he didn’t give up despite disappointments. Now, with methane plants on Lake Kivu, looking back to 2000, anyone would have thrown in the towel."

He also shared his first impression of Rwigema, describing him as warm and easy to connect with, even from a distance.

"He was easily the most charismatic person I’ve met. He radiated it from a distance. He had a very easygoing personality. You wouldn’t imagine he was a soldier. It’s difficult for people who’ve been in the trenches to escape being soldiers, but he could," he narrated.

The Ugandan author also shared a memory of seeing Rwigema in Kampala near the Diamond Bank building, heading to a bookstore.

"He drove up in a VW Golf, got out in jeans, an untucked shirt, and sandals, going to the bookshop. We shouted at him, he gave high-fives, greeted people in the street, alone, without guards. That’s the kind of person he was."

In the interview, filmed in Nairobi, Kenya, the Ugandan journalist also recalled early warning signs of the Genocide against the Tutsi. Just weeks after the RPF’s October 1990 offensive, he visited a Ugandan border camp where Tutsi refugees bore machete wounds inflicted by Interahamwe militants.

“The infrastructure of the genocide was already baked into Rwandan society,” he said, lamenting journalists’ failure to foresee the horror.

Beyond Rwanda, Onyango-Obbo shared reflections on East Africa’s trajectory. He warned that Uganda, after nearly four decades under President Yoweri Museveni, faced a fractured future, potentially splintering into autonomous regions by 2070 due to regional distrust and unresolved grievances.

He predicted that the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Somalia could stabilise within 15 years, possibly through federalism or an al-Shabaab-led regime, while South Sudan and Burundi risked prolonged stagnation.

Watch the full interview below: