23 Ugandans expelled from Rwanda

Kampala. The Kisoro Resident District Commissioner (RDC), Mr Peter Mugisha, has confirmed that 23 Ugandans working in Rwanda were expelled at the weekend under unclear circumstances.

“On Sunday, we received 23 Ugandans that were picked up from their workplaces in Rwanda and dropped off at Kyanika Border Post in Kisoro District. There was no official communication from Rwanda about the offence the deported Ugandans had committed although we received them,” Mr Mugisha said.

He said the Ugandans were working with road construction companies and many of them were from Nebbi and Tororo districts.

Mr Mugisha warned Ugandans against crossing to Rwanda until the misunderstandings between the two countries are resolved by the ad hoc committee that was appointed to implement the pact signed by the Ugandan and Rwandan presidents in Angola, in August.

In February this year, the Rwandan government blocked its border with Uganda at Gatuna and barred all Ugandan cargo trucks from entering their country.

The Rwandan government also warned their nationals from entering in Uganda, saying they would be persecuted.

Several Rwandans who have tried to cross onto Uganda and Ugandans who have crossed into Rwanda through ungazetted border points have been shot dead or injured inside Rwanda by government forces.

On November 9, two Ugandan businessmen Job Ebyarishanga and Bosco Tuheirwe, both residents of Kamwezi Sub-county in Rukiga District, were shot dead inside Rwanda just one kilometre away from the Ugandan border line.

Meanwhile yesterday, 31 Rwandans and four Congolese were deported through Kyanika border post in Kisoro after they pleaded guilty to illegal entry into Uganda.

Kisoro Grade One Magistrate, Mr Raphael Vueni, sentenced them to a caution and ordered their immediate deportation to their respective countries. Among those arrested were 39 who included 35 Rwandans and four Congolese. Four Rwandans denied the charges of illegal entry and were sent on remand pending trial.

“The security officials have already handed them over to the Ugandan immigration officials to process the necessary documents before deporting them to their respective countries through Kyanika and Bunagana border posts,” Mr Mugisha said.

Insecurity

On May 2, a 41-year-old Rwandan businessman Innocent Ndahimana was shot and injured by Rwandan security officials as he tried to smuggle about 500kg of beans into Uganda through an ungazetted border point in Rushaki Village in Rubaya Sub-county, Kabale District. He was taken by his colleagues to Katuna Community Medical Clinic for treatment.

On November 4, a Rwandan Jean Piere Havugimana from Kabaya village Rubaya sub-county in Gicumbi District was shot and injured by Rwandan security personnel inside Rwanda, about 300 metres from the Ugandan border with Rwanda as he tried to smuggle about 50kg of potatoes from Uganda.