Body of Ugandan business man shot in Rwanda repatriated

Ugandan authorities in the border district of Kabale have appealed to their counterparts in Rwanda to consider other punishments instead of shooting and killing Ugandans suspected of smuggling goods into their country.

The Kabale Resident District Commissioner (RDC), Mr Darius Nandinda and the Kabale LCV chairperson Mr Patrick Besigye Keihwa made the call on Monday while receiving the body of Sidini Muhereza 35, a Ugandan businessman.

Mr Muhereza was last week shot dead at Hakako-Sebeya village in Rwerere parish Burera district in Rwanda about five kilometers away from the Uganda-Rwanda border line as he allegedly smuggled boxes of match boxes from Uganda into Rwanda.

“If every person that committed crime was shot dead, the world would be in problems. It is our appeal that Rwandan security officials use other means of punishing Ugandans that commit crime in their country than killing them. I thank the Rwandan authorities for transporting the body and handing over to the relatives for burial. But in the spirit of the East African Community, killing illegal entrants is bad,” Kabale resident district commissioner Mr Darius Nandinda said.

Mr Keihwa said Rwandan authorities should appreciate the fact that Rwandan nationals that commit crimes in Uganda are tried in courts of law but not killed.

“We are soon handing over to you 19 Rwandans that have been on remand in Ndorwa government prison in Kabale because president Museveni pardoned them. They will tell you that during their stay in the government prisons they were being fed well. Shooting and killing a Uganda because he/she has illegally entered your country is inhuman,”
Mr Besigye Keihwa said.

The Mayor for Burera District in Rwanda, Ms Marie Chantel Uwanyirigira headed the Rwandan delegation that handed over the body to the relatives and Ugandan authorities at Katuna border post at around 2pm. She said the deceased was armed with traditional tools which he used to fight the Rwandan security officers who were arresting him for smuggling goods into their country.

“After he was arrested, he used traditional tools to fight the Rwandan security officials that shot him in self-defense. We condemn smuggling goods into our country,” Ms Marie Chantel Uwanyirigira said.

Muhereza is the fifth Ugandan businessman to be killed in Rwanda while allegedly smuggling goods into the same country since February last year. Rwanda closed its Katuna border with Uganda and banned its nationals from entering Uganda.