Border closure talks hit dead end as Rwanda calls off second Kampala meeting
The Rwandan government has called off the second meeting that was scheduled to take place in Kampala on Monday, November 18 as part of the follow-up meetings meant to fast –track the implementation of the Angola peace pact over the closure of the Uganda- Rwanda border.
On August, 21, in Luanda, the Angolan capital, Presidents Museveni and Paul Kagame signed a pact to end the bickering between the two close allies and this, they agreed would be followed by several meetings to fast –track the implementation of the agreement.
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However, according to a statement by the government spokesperson, Ofwono Opondo, the second meeting supposed to sit in Kampala was called off by the Kigali establishment.
“The media is hereby informed that the second meeting of the Adhoc commission on Luanda Memorandum of Understanding between Uganda and Rwanda scheduled for November 18, 2019 in Kampala has been postponed at the request of Rwanda. A new date will be communicated,”Opondo said in a statement on Thursday afternoon.
However, the Uganda government spokesperson didn’t divulge more details on why the Kigali establishment has called off the meeting that was supposed to sit in Kampala.
This is the second time the meeting is postponed, after the October 13 one which was a follow up on the September 16 one in Kigali didn’t take place after Rwandan officials said they had not been contacted by their Ugandan counterparts.
The latest developments come at a time when Uganda issued a protest note to Rwanda over the gruesome manner in which their (Uganda) citizens were shot dead in cold blood by Rwandan security agencies on Saturday.
Two Ugandans were on Saturday night shot dead inside Rwanda, one kilometer away from the Mpororo border post for allegedly smuggling tobacco.
“The Government of Uganda protests in the strongest terms the murder of its nationals by Rwandan security personnel for allegedly being involved in smuggling of goods across the common border. The alleged crime cannot justify the high handed and criminal act by the Rwandan security personnel, against unarmed civilians residing along the common border,” the Ugandan government said in the protest note.
“Furthermore, the Ministry notes that these murders are inimical to the ongoing efforts to improve relations between the two countries. The Ministry demands that a joint investigation in the murders be conducted and the perpetrators held accountable.”
Following the signing of the August 21 pact, a few of the things agreed upon, have ever been fulfilled by both governments.
A few days after the pact, the Rwandan government blocked a number of Ugandan websites from being viewed in Kigali whereas in retaliation, Uganda blocked the Rwanda government website, the New Times over bad mouthing.
The relations between Uganda and Rwanda have in the past two years not been at their best with each of the two sister countries trading accusations against the other.
Whereas the Kigali establishment accuses Uganda of supporting forces bent on overthrowing their government and arresting their nationals, the Kampala government denies the claims and insists all those arrested were spies.
The frost relations climaxed early this year with the closure of the borders shared by the two countries but the same has hurt Rwanda most because most of the products they use were either coming from Uganda or were passing through Uganda.
https://nilepost.co.ug/2019/08/22/inside-the-museveni-kagame-deal-to-normalize-relations-open-border/
