Rwanda-Uganda friendship is overdue

May 29, 2001

PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni, while meeting a UN Security Council delegation last Friday revealed that he had met President Paul Kagame of Rwanda in Cairo to "sort out our differences".

By JOhn Kakande PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni, while meeting a UN Security Council delegation last Friday revealed that he had met President Paul Kagame of Rwanda in Cairo to "sort out our differences". This was long overdue and a step in the right direction. Relations between Uganda and Rwanda have been frosty, to say the least, since the Kisangani clashes. In March this year, Uganda Government placed Rwanda on the list of countries considered hostile, which also include the Kony-backer Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kagame and Joseph Kabila of the Republic of Congo were the only leaders of neighbouring countries who did not attend Museveni's swearing-in ceremony on May 12. Rwanda has argued that its nationals travelling through Uganda have been routinely mistreated by Uganda security agencies. This points to the fact that there is a lot of mistrust between the two neighbours, leading to fears that the conflict may escalate into fighting. It is important that Museveni and Kagame take serious steps to resolve their misunderstanding. Relations should not be allowed to deteriorate further. Uganda overacted to blacklist Rwanda as a hostile state. President Museveni should remove Rwanda from the blacklist as the first step towards harmony between the two countries. Sudan has over the years been backing Kony rebels who have committed a lot of atrocities. Congo, particularly under the late Laurent Kabila, was ostensibly supporting the ADF rebels. It was therefore justified to blacklist both Sudan and Congo. I see no justification for blacklisting Rwanda. The reason which was given for blacklisting Rwanda, that the issue of Kisangani clashes has never been resolved, appeared a mere excuse. One factor that has poisoned relations between the two countries is connected to Rwanda's internal political strife. Over the past few months, there have been reports of some Rwandan army officers and senior government officials fleeing from the country through Uganda and seeking political asylum in the US or Europe. International human rights activists have reported increasing cases of cases of disappearances and assassinations in Rwanda. While I do not expect Uganda government to offer financial or material support to Rwandese dissidents, there is nothing wrong for Uganda to allow Rwandese asylum seekers safe passage. The international community has been extremely sympathetic to the RPF regime in Rwanda mainly because of the 1994 genocide. But RPF should not squander this goodwill and must pursue reconciliation with political opponents. ENDS

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