In a shocking revelation, Rwanda President Paul Kagame has made it clear why he stopped attending local football matches in the African country.

According to The New Times, Kagame last attended a football match at a Rwandan Stadium in 2016 when the country hosted the African Nations Championship (CHAN) during which Rwanda reached the quarter-finals.

His absence from the stadia has raised concern amongst Rwandese with current Amavubi assistant coach Jimmy Mulisa calling on Kagame to reconsider and return to the matches considering Rwanda’s perfect start to the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers coupled with the impending completion of state-of-the-art Amahoro National Stadium which is under major upgrade.

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However, speaking on Wednesday during the national dialogue “Umushyikirano” in Kigali, Kagame named witchcraft and corruption in local football as the reasons he stopped attending matches. “The reason I stopped watching football games was partly because of corruption and witchcraft in tournaments. I can’t be part of that because it is primitive,” said Kagame as quoted by The New Times, adding: “Once it changes, I will frequent them again.”

In August 2023, Kagame criticized those practicing such, saying it is something primitive saying: “Witchcraft is primitive. You should not accept it. If they go to competitions with only this in mind, that’s why they always come back with failure. You must only be foolish because if you tried something so many times and it doesn’t work, why do you keep repeating it and make it a habit?”