9 MPs set for Kigali to discuss relations

By Richard MutumbaA delegation of nine Ugandan MPs travel to Kigali next month for talks with their Rwandan counterparts on improving relations between the two countries.The chairman of the Ugandan chapter for the six-country Great Lakes Parliamentary Forum on Peace (AMANI), Norbert Mao, said the Kigali mission aims at promoting peace and raising awareness about peaceful resolution of conflicts.AMANI is a forum set up by the follow-up committee of the regional conference on The Role of Parliamentarians in Conflict Prevention and Resolution, which took place in Kigali, Rwanda in February 1998. Member countries are Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, Tanzania and Kenya.“Our vision is to have our region free of conflict and to get organised to achieve that purpose,” Gulu Municipality MP Mao told The New Vision yesterday after a preparatory meeting of the Kigali mission.He said since the Kisangani clashes between the UPDF and the Rwandese Patriotic Army (RPA) two years ago, the relationship between the two countries has not been good.“We are important actors in society and have a role to play in order to prevent conflict or contribute to the resolution of violent conflict,” Mao said.He said AMANI would look for ways and means of persuading the leaders of the two countries to normalise relations.Mao said AMANI would continue its missions to countries affected by conflict in order to assist them find solutions.