Rwanda And Uganda Must Mend Their Fences
Jan 21, 2003
THE authorities in Rwanda and Uganda started the year 2003 accusing each other of bad intent.
By Ibra Asuman Bisiika
THE authorities in Rwanda and Uganda started the year 2003 accusing each other of bad intent. This was a clear signal indicating that the relations between the two countries was far from the mend.
The hullabaloo was kicked off by Jean Bosco Bahirime, a Congolese rebel leader who claimed to have fled Uganda because his life was in danger. He told Rwandan authorities that Uganda was training Interahamwe militia to go and attack Rwanda.
But the Bahirime allegations have a background to it. When President Paul Kagame met with his army chiefs towards the end of last year, he was briefed that some members of the notorious Interahamwe militia had made contacts with military authorities of “a neighbouring country†which has a military presence in the DR Congo. The neighbouring country was construed to be Uganda. It therefore goes that the Bahirime allegations fitted in a picture that the Rwandan intelligence had already painted.
Then enter Mr. Joseph Bideri, the short and chubby director of ORINFOR (the national bureau of information). He was quoted as saying that the Rwandan government had “irrefutable evidence†to show that Uganda was training Interahamwe militias with the express purpose of attacking Rwanda. But the truth is that neither Uganda nor Rwanda would find it easy to openly support rebellion in either country.
However, the mutual mistrust exhibited on both sides has continued to perpetuate a situation rife with accusations and counter-accusations.
If there is one thing that the Rwandan side has achieved in their war-of-words with Uganda, it is with their manipulation of the media to suit their objectives. The Rwandan team which came to Uganda to verify whether there were Rwandan rebels undergoing training reported that there was nothing to constitute training of rebels. And there has not been any official communication to the contrary.
So, one would think that the Bahirime allegations should have been taken to the joint verifications committee study. They just could not afford to miss the sympathy that they would get from the whole episode with its theatrical effect.
However, this particular quarrel is unfortunate because it comes at a time when there seemed to be some hope of resettling all the dissidents in Ugandan and Rwanda in a third country. But with the Bahirime allegations, the two sides may harden their positions on the issue of resettling the dissidents.
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) was late last year reported to have asked the British government to grant asylum to some Rwandan political dissidents living in Uganda.
According to press reports, Mr. Saidy Saihou of UNHCR was quoted as saying that two of the Rwandan dissidents in Uganda had already been granted asylum in the United States of America.
Other press reports indicated that a European Union country had accepted to grant asylum to UPDF renegades Col. Samson Mande and Col. Anthony Kyakabale now living in Rwanda.
It was quite relieving because these reports came at a time when there was heightened talk of an impending rebellion against the Ugandan government led by Col. Sam Mande and Lt. Col. Kyakabale. The resettlement of these dissidents was therefore expected to have a far reaching effect on the icy relations between Uganda and Rwanda.
Uganda and Rwanda should stop bickering and start seriously looking at the improvement of their relations as a priority matter.
The first step in this process is the resettlement of political dissidents on both sides in a third country and much more should follow.
The governments of Uganda and Rwanda should be urged by their development partners, particularly the United Kingdom, to engage in acts of confidence-building. This should involve frank and open summits between President Kagame and Museveni. Otherwise more dissidents, (or the likes of Jen Bosco Bahirima), will always take advantage of the mutual suspicion between Kigali and Kampala. The political leadership in Kigali and Kampala should know that their poor relationship has regional, political and security implications beyond the borders of the two countries. Ends
THE authorities in Rwanda and Uganda started the year 2003 accusing each other of bad intent. This was a clear signal indicating that the relations between the two countries was far from the mend.
The hullabaloo was kicked off by Jean Bosco Bahirime, a Congolese rebel leader who claimed to have fled Uganda because his life was in danger. He told Rwandan authorities that Uganda was training Interahamwe militia to go and attack Rwanda.
But the Bahirime allegations have a background to it. When President Paul Kagame met with his army chiefs towards the end of last year, he was briefed that some members of the notorious Interahamwe militia had made contacts with military authorities of “a neighbouring country†which has a military presence in the DR Congo. The neighbouring country was construed to be Uganda. It therefore goes that the Bahirime allegations fitted in a picture that the Rwandan intelligence had already painted.
Then enter Mr. Joseph Bideri, the short and chubby director of ORINFOR (the national bureau of information). He was quoted as saying that the Rwandan government had “irrefutable evidence†to show that Uganda was training Interahamwe militias with the express purpose of attacking Rwanda. But the truth is that neither Uganda nor Rwanda would find it easy to openly support rebellion in either country.
However, the mutual mistrust exhibited on both sides has continued to perpetuate a situation rife with accusations and counter-accusations.
If there is one thing that the Rwandan side has achieved in their war-of-words with Uganda, it is with their manipulation of the media to suit their objectives. The Rwandan team which came to Uganda to verify whether there were Rwandan rebels undergoing training reported that there was nothing to constitute training of rebels. And there has not been any official communication to the contrary.
So, one would think that the Bahirime allegations should have been taken to the joint verifications committee study. They just could not afford to miss the sympathy that they would get from the whole episode with its theatrical effect.
However, this particular quarrel is unfortunate because it comes at a time when there seemed to be some hope of resettling all the dissidents in Ugandan and Rwanda in a third country. But with the Bahirime allegations, the two sides may harden their positions on the issue of resettling the dissidents.
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) was late last year reported to have asked the British government to grant asylum to some Rwandan political dissidents living in Uganda.
According to press reports, Mr. Saidy Saihou of UNHCR was quoted as saying that two of the Rwandan dissidents in Uganda had already been granted asylum in the United States of America.
Other press reports indicated that a European Union country had accepted to grant asylum to UPDF renegades Col. Samson Mande and Col. Anthony Kyakabale now living in Rwanda.
It was quite relieving because these reports came at a time when there was heightened talk of an impending rebellion against the Ugandan government led by Col. Sam Mande and Lt. Col. Kyakabale. The resettlement of these dissidents was therefore expected to have a far reaching effect on the icy relations between Uganda and Rwanda.
Uganda and Rwanda should stop bickering and start seriously looking at the improvement of their relations as a priority matter.
The first step in this process is the resettlement of political dissidents on both sides in a third country and much more should follow.
The governments of Uganda and Rwanda should be urged by their development partners, particularly the United Kingdom, to engage in acts of confidence-building. This should involve frank and open summits between President Kagame and Museveni. Otherwise more dissidents, (or the likes of Jen Bosco Bahirima), will always take advantage of the mutual suspicion between Kigali and Kampala. The political leadership in Kigali and Kampala should know that their poor relationship has regional, political and security implications beyond the borders of the two countries. Ends