Rwandan President Paul Kagame (left) and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni. PHOTO | URUGWIRO
The arrest and arraignment of senior police officers before a
Uganda army court has revealed how uneasy relations are between Ugandan
security agencies and how this may have a bearing on relations with some
neighbouring countries.
Last Friday, Senior
Commissioner of Police Joel Aguma, Senior Superintendent of Police Nixon
Karuhanga Agasirwe, Detective Assistant of Police Benon Atwebembeire,
Detective Assistant Maganda James, Detective sergeant Abel Tumukunde,
Special Police Constable Faisal Katende, Detective Corporal Amon
Kwarisiima, Rene Rutagungira a Rwandan national and Bahati Mugenga a
Congolese national were charged with kidnap.
The
police officers were rounded up in an operation led by the Chieftaincy
of Military Intelligence in an operation that has gripped the country on
the apparent orders of President Yoweri Museveni.
The
court martial alleged that on October 25, 2013 in Mpigi, they arrested
and conveyed Joel Mutabazi, a former Rwandan security officer, and
Jackson Kalemera without their consent to Rwanda.
Mutabazi
is a former aide to Rwandan President Paul Kagame who had fled Kigali
and sought refuge in Uganda. Kalemera is his brother.
Rutagungira
and Mugenga are said to be operatives working on behalf of the Rwanda
government. They reportedly worked with Ugandan security to corner
Mutabazi in spite of the fact that he had been granted UN refugee
protection.
Seeking safe haven
Once
back in Kigali, Mutabazi was charged with treason and terrorism and
stripped of his army rank and handed a life sentence in 2015.
The
arrest of the Rwandan appears to have rubbed Kigali the wrong way
coming on the back of their concerns that Kampala was not doing enough
to prevent dissidents finding a safe haven in Uganda.
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Kigali,
for instance, has raised complaints over businessman Tribert Rujugiro
who has reportedly entered business arrangements with top Uganda
government officials — a charge that representatives of his businesses
have denied.
Kigali accuses Rujugiro of working with foreign-based Rwandan dissidents to destabilise the country.
Okello
Oryem, Uganda’s State Minister for International Relations insisted
that relations between Kampala and Kigali will not be affected by the
arrests or any other developments describing as “irresponsible anyone in
Kampala or Kigali who would try to take advantage of anything to try
and destroy the existing warm relations between the two countries.”
Mr
Oryem insisted that neither Kampala nor Kigali “will fall in the trap
of people intending to take these relations back to the past.”
Rwanda
High Commissioner to Uganda Frank Mugambage said he was not aware of
the arrests of the Uganda police officers or that they had been charged
with a matter relating to Rwandan dissidents.
“You are
giving me news... I am not aware of this,” he said before adding that if
indeed the charges concerned the arrest and deportation of Mutabazi
[then] “that is certainly not true, I can tell you that if it is about
Mutabazi I know that the procedures that were used were the normal legal
processes and established mechanisms including Interpol.”
He
said mechanisms existed between the governments of Uganda and Rwanda
through which they thrash out matters affecting their relations and as
far as he was concerned, those remained open and healthy.
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