Rwanda has written to Uganda through diplomatic channels to raise concerns over Ugandan soldiers who have been crossing to the Rwandan side to abduct people, a diplomatic source revealed Friday in Kigali.
According to the Rwandan Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Dr. Vincent Biruta, said that this incident was not new, describing it as an old story and it has been reported on.
“In the last weeks there have been many incidents of Ugandan army entering Rwanda, abducting Rwandans and then taking them illegally in Uganda and then demanding ransoms for the release,” the top Rwandan diplomat said.
In February this year, Rwandan President Paul Kagame and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni met at Gatuna-Katuna border crossing for talks that seek to normalize bilateral relations.
The two leaders were joined by Angolan President Joao Lourenco and Felix Tshisekedi, president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the facilitators of the talks between Rwanda and Uganda at the 4th Quadripartite Summit.
Both presidents agreed on several issues including immediately opening the borders shared by both countries.
After the agreement in Luanda, representatives from both countries held follow-up meetings on what had been agreed during the signing of the pact.
Both delegations failed to agree on anything and referred the matters to their respective presidents to decide the next course of action. Since then, progress towards normalizing relations has been slow.
CU/abj/APA