Uganda, Rwanda give another shot at peace . Credit (BBC)
Uganda, Rwanda give another shot at peace
After the Uganda-Rwanda peace meeting in Kigali, Rwanda in September, peace still appeared to be elusive between the two East-African countries.
Friday meeting at Speke Resort Munyonyo in the Ugandan capital Kampala, came after some scheduled meetings could not hold.
The countries are sitting to resolve a row over security and spying allegations.
In September, Rwanda gave Uganda a list of 200 names of citizens who it says are illegally detained in Uganda and should be released in order to ease tensions between the two countries.
But more citizens of both countries living in opposite countries have allegedly been tortured, some killed without provocation.
As the Rwandan delegation led by State Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe arrived in Uganda on Friday, reports say their compatriots were being taken to a hospital in Musanze district, Northern Rwanda, for treatment for severe injuries they say were a result of torture at the hands of Ugandan security forces.
“In what has become a familiar pattern, the Rwandans were dumped at the Cyanika border with Uganda, and were only picked by Rwandan officials who rushed them to the hospital. They are still in critical condition.
Surprisingly, those tortured include a Ugandan who was rounded up among Rwandans.
The AdHoc Commission set up by Rwanda and Uganda to follow up on the implementation of the Luanda Memorandum of Understanding is set to convene shortly in Kampala after several postponements.
The Luanda Agreement signed in August under the auspices of Angolan President João Lourenço sought to resolve tensions between the two countries but Kigali says Uganda has not showed the goodwill to act on Rwanda’s concerns”, says a Rwandan website KTpress
It was meant to happen in October, with both countries trading accusations on why it hadn’t gone ahead.
Uganda accuses Rwanda of deploying its intelligence agents in Uganda and infiltrating the security services. Uganda has continued to arrest and deport dozens of Rwandans in the past weeks.
It is hoped the meeting will cement an agreement made in Angola’s capital Luanda in August, in which both countries agreed to resolve all issues between them. The deal was brokered by Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
These latest talks are not open to the press, so reporters are waiting for an official communique on what has been discussed.
But at least one participant was hopeful heading into Friday’s talks.
“We’ve witnessed the political will of Uganda and Rwanda to improve relations to the benefit of their respective populations,” said Angola’s Foreign Minister Manuel Domingos Augusto.
“We are confident that our two sister countries have all the necessary conditions to make this dialogue a success story.”
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