Uganda and Rwanda have signed a pact to improve their staggering political and economic relations.
Uganda’s Museveni and Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame signed a memorandum of understanding meant to resolve tensions existing between the two countries.
According to a Uganda State House statement , the leaders of Angola and DR Congo were the facilitators of the agreement whose signing yesterday began with a quadripartite summit on July 12th, where the four leaders met and agreed to begin a resolution process.
Speaking after the signing ceremony in Luanda Angola, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni thanked his Angolan counterpart, Joao Manuel Lourenco, for overseeing a reinforcement process that has culminated into the signing of the pact
“I thank President Lourenco and Felix Tshisekedi of DR Congo for coming in so that we share the information we had and ensuring that we have a communiqué with Rwanda,” he said.
President Museveni noted that he was already in touch with Kagame to seek a resolution to the issues between the two countries when Presidents Lourenco and Tshisekedi invited him to this summit.
In the MOU, the Ugandan and Rwandan leaders agreed to respect each other’s sovereignty and of neighbouring countries.
They committed to refrain from actions conducive to destabilization or subversion in the territory of the other party or neighbouring countries and also eliminate all factors that may create such perception, as well as financing, training, and infiltration of destabilising forces.
The leaders will respect and protect the rights and freedoms of the nationals of the other party residing or transiting in their national territories, in accordance with laws of their countries.
The pact indicates that the two countries will resume cross-border activities, including movement of persons and goods.
The presidents also undertook, in the spirit of Pan-Africanism and regional cooperation, to comprehensively cooperate in politics, security, defence, trade, and culture.
To implement these resolutions, the leaders agreed to establish an adhoc commission headed by ministers of foreign affairs and composed of ministers of internal affairs/Administration and heads of intelligence, to see this through.
Addressing the media, host President Lourenco congratulated Presidents Museveni and Kagame for making the signing of the agreement possible.
“The signing alone cannot replace the problem,” he said. “The solution resides in the political will of the leaders to take full commitment to respect what they have signed and we are very certain they will do that.”
The MOU comes at a time of heightened tensions between Uganda and Rwanda that even saw the closure of the Gatuna border post since February to-date.
Rwanda has since advised its citizens against traveling to Uganda claiming that Uganda authorities were abducting, arbitrarily arresting, jailing, torturing and illegally deporting Rwandans.
Uganda has also been accused of hosting, sponsoring and fa imitating terrorist groups that want to topple the Rwandan government.
CN/abj/APA