Rumours Of War

AMAZING RUMOURS of war between Uganda and Rwanda continue to circulate. Yet this ‘phoney war’ is no more than a series of wild allegations by opposition politicians and the media. If a newspaper runs a story saying ‘government denies rushing troops to the border’, by implication the newspaper actually believes they are doing so. Otherwise it would not be worth publishing the story. People then start panicking. Yet the reality is prosaic. Uganda at least has not moved any troops to the border. About two months ago it deployed troops at Ntungamo and Kikagati to counter possible rebel incursions but this was done with the full knowledge of the Rwanda government and foreign embassies. There have been no deployments near the border since then. Uganda cannot possibly be construed to be on a war footing. The reverse is true. The UPDF is now pulling out of Buta so soon Ugandan troops will only be in Congo in Beni and on the western Ruwenzori. It is true that the government wants to increase defence spending above the limit agreed with donors. It is also true that Museveni wrote a private letter to the British minister of development explaining the regional complexities that made this necessary. But this does not mean that Uganda wants to go to war with its neighbours. The government is damned if it does and damned if it doesn’t. If it does not protect its citizens from terrorist attacks from Congo or Sudan, it is accused of not caring about public welfare. If it tries to build up the security forces, it is said to be militaristic. Forget these rumours. Uganda is not going to war with anyone. Ends