Museveni, Kagame to meet on Friday over conflict

 

KAMPALA - Rwanda president Paul Kagame and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni are scheduled to meet this Friday at the Katuna border point in what is highly expected to be the signing of the final peace agreement which will end the conflict between the two neighbouring countries.

 

There is excitement among residents at the Katuna border town ahead of the planned meeting. Sources in the area have revealed that construction works in the no man's land are going on to ensure that by the meeting time the venue is well organised.

 

Last week, on Friday Uganda and Rwanda delegations held fruitful talks in Kigali during which measures for ending the impasse between the two countries were agreed upon.

 

The Rwanda delegation was led by the country's State Minister for East African Affairs, Olivier Nduhungirehe, while the Uganda delegation was led by the Foreign Affairs Minister, Sam Kutesa. 

 

The two countries agreed to resume collaboration among their security organs, which had been stopped when the relationship between the two countries collapsed at the beginning of last year.

 

The Kigali ad hoc committee meeting was a follow-up on the February 2, summit which transpired in Angola's capital of Luanda.

 

Both parties committed to further verify the number and the status of nationals of either party detained in each other's country and to report back in a three weeks' time.

 

The two parties resolved to be committed to the need to protect and respect the human rights of nationals of either party in observance of the rule of law and international humanitarian law and by ensuring that the due process is followed. 

 

Both governments agreed on the need to finalise the extradition treaty to be signed in the presence of the Heads of State at the fourth Quadripartite Summit, which will be held on Friday.

 

In March last year Rwanda publicly accused Uganda of abducting its citizens and supporting rebels bent on overthrowing the Kigali government. The rebel groups Rwanda government accuses Uganda of supporting include the Rwanda National Congress (RNC) and the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).

 

Trouble started in February 2019 when Rwanda government closed its border with Uganda and even issued a travel advisory barring Rwandans from traveling to Uganda.