A Rwandan security officer inspects a vehicle from the Ugandan side at Cyanika border post. PHOTO | ROBERT MUHEREZA | NMG
Uganda and Rwanda are keeping a close watch on each other’s diplomats, sources say, as the row over espionage claims persists.
On
Wednesday, the Rwanda Defence Forces invited foreign military attaches
and advisors on an excursion upcountry; however, Uganda’s defence
advisor to Rwanda, Brig Gen Burundi Emmanuel Nyamunywanisa, did not
attend. Sources say he was not invited.
The excursion
had been arranged a week earlier for diplomats residing in Rwanda.
Uganda’s ambassador to Rwanda, Oliver Wonekha, attended the event.
She
later met the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Urujeni Bakuramutsa, but details of what was discussed were not made
public.
The two countries have not taken up opportunities for mediation, with bilateral talks seeming unsuccessful.
The
political tensions have hardly been addressed during regional meetings,
raising concerns about the ability of regional and bilateral mechanisms
to resolve emerging security challenges in the region.
The East African Community has maintained its silence on the
matter, while the Joint Permanent Commission chaired by Rwanda has not
met since March last year.
Officials had planned to
meet under this mechanism last year shortly after a meeting between
Presidents Yoweri Museveni and Paul Kagame in March, but it was
postponed and later cancelled. Sources say that Uganda had sought the
revival of the JPC but Rwanda declined.
High-level meetings
Rwanda
says that its complaints against Uganda have been presented directly by
President Kagame to President Museveni at two previous meetings.
“Such
matters cannot be solved by low-ranking officials at the JPC. We have
addressed these matters directly; it can’t go higher than when President
Kagame addressed President Museveni at two separate meetings,” said
Rwanda’s State Minister for EAC Affairs Olivier Nduhungirehe.
The
two presidents have not met since political tensions escalated in late
February when Rwanda closed its border and stopped its citizens from
travelling to Uganda, claiming that hundreds had been illegally
arrested, tortured and some killed or deported by Kampala’s security
organs.
Kigali also accused Kampala of supporting
rebels opposed to President Kagame’s government, a claim that received
new impetus when rebel leader, Callixte Nsabimana, told a Kigali court
that he was getting support from Uganda’s intelligence agency.
Rwanda
insists that its travel advisory against Uganda will not be revoked
until its citizens are released, allowed legal counsel or presented with
detailed charges of their crimes.
Rwanda says only two Rwandans have been produced at Uganda’s general court martial and charged with espionage.
Uganda
has also accused its neighbour of infiltrating its security
organs—saying that the Rwandans it has arrested are suspected of
espionage.
Presidents Museveni and Kagame sat next to
each other and were seen to be chatting on May 24 at the inauguration of
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, the week when a Rwandan
soldier is said to have killed a Rwandan and Ugandan accused of
smuggling.
A dispute erupted after the shooting, with
Uganda accusing Rwandan soldiers of violating border demarcations to
chase down and shoot the suspects from within its territory. Rwanda said
the shooting happened on its own soil.
The political
tensions between the two countries have paralysed the flow of goods and
people, and a dealt a heavy blow to the lives of citizens residing in
border communities.
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