RWANDA: President Museveni on Monday, 17 January 2022 sent a message to his Rwanda counterpart Paul Kagame.
Mr Museveni’s message was delivered by Uganda’s representative to the UN, Ambassador Adonia Ayebare, at State House in Kigali.
It is not immediately clear what the message contained and what the two officials discussed.
This comes amid reports that the two leaders are set to resume talks aimed at resolving the hostile relations that led to the closure of the borders between the two countries.
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On Sunday, January 16, 2022, the First Son and commander of the land forces, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, described President Kagame as his uncle.
“This is my uncle, Afande Paul Kagame. Those who fight him are fighting my family. They should all be careful,” he tweeted alongside pictures of the Rwandan president.
And now sources have intimated to this website that there are behind the scenes diplomatic efforts aimed at reopening talks between the two countries, which would culminate in the reopening of the borders between the two countries.
In 2019, Rwanda closed its most lucrative border with Uganda – Gatuna/ Katuna.
This came after Rwanda accused Uganda of supporting and facilitating rebels, as well as of illegally arresting and torturing its citizens.
On the other hand, Uganda has accused Rwanda of conducting espionage on its soil.
Several bilateral meetings that involved leaders from regional countries – Angola and DRC – have not yielded much fruit in solving the impasse between the two east African neighbours.
In August 2019, Kagame and Museveni met at their common border in Gatuna and signed what seemed to be a progressive pact that would lead to the normalisation of relations.
In the pact, both leaders agreed to respect each other’s sovereignty and to refrain from acts that may destabilise the other.
An ad-hoc committee led by their ministers of foreign affairs had made some ground on following up on the implementation of this pact after consecutive meetings in Kigali and Kampala.
Progress, however, stalled, partly due to the coronavirus pandemic that halted movement, and partly due to disagreements over how the pact was being implemented.
