Uganda hosting Rwandan rebels - minister Sezibera

Kampala. Rwanda’s foreign affairs minister Richard Sezibera has accused Uganda of hosting its armed adversaries, restricting movement of Rwandan goods on its territory and tormenting its citizens.

In an interview with government-owned The New Times newspaper published yesterday, Mr Sezibera said talks between Presidents Museveni and Paul Kagame as well as among senior government officials on both sides, have failed to resolve Kigali’s concerns.
He claimed he was unaware of any specific complaints by Uganda against his country.

Asked, considering what has been happening lately, does Rwanda consider Uganda a hostile nation? Mr Sezibera responded: “The problems that Rwandans are facing in Uganda currently are three: Rwandans are arrested, tortured, harassed in Uganda…[and] those that are not arrested, harassed, detained are deported for reasons which we don’t understand.

“There are armed groups, individuals who head armed groups that are opposed to the government of Rwanda, that have a violent agenda towards Rwanda who operate in Uganda [such as] the Rwanda National Congress (RNC) [and]…these are groups that have carried out (criminal) acts here in Rwanda and are based in Uganda; and, the third is the challenge related to the free movement of Rwandan goods across Ugandan territory,” he added.

Rebel outfit
The RNC is a rebel group allegedly with lairs in eastern DR Congo. The group is linked to Lt Gen Kayumba Nyamwasa, a former chief of staff of the Rwandan Defence Forces, who fled and now lives in South Africa where has survived assassination attempts.
In yesterday’s interview, Mr Sezibera, who is also the Rwanda government spokesperson, did not offer evidence to back up his allegations against Uganda.

We were unable to independently verify the claims.
In Kampala, Mr Ofwono Opondo, the executive director of Uganda Media Centre, said as far as he is concerned, Uganda and Rwanda enjoy bilateral and diplomatic relations through which outstanding issues can and should be resolved.

“We don’t ordinarily conduct disputes with foreign governments, more so a neighbour, through the media. Uganda government has been cooperative with Rwanda when issues are raised in writing through the ministry of Foreign Affairs,” Mr Opondo said.

Denial of border troops
Earlier, reports that remained unproven throughout yesterday suggested Rwanda had massed troops at the Uganda border.
Maj Gen Frank Mugambage, the Rwandan ambassador to Uganda, denied the claims.

“There is nothing like [army] deployments at the border. These are just rumours with no truth and I am not going to respond to rumours,” he said.

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