\nBehind the meeting<\/b><\/p>\n
According to the office of the CDF, the meeting intended to focus on bilateral and regional security matters.\u201d The meeting also emphasized \u201csuch engagements are routine and form part of ongoing security dialogues between Uganda and Rwanda. Gen Muhoozi has been emphasizing the need to strengthen military cooperation between Uganda and Rwanda to address regional conflicts, cross-border crimes, and terrorism.<\/p>\n
Broken relationship<\/b><\/p>\n
On February 27, 2019, the President of Rwanda Paul Kagame ordered the closure of the border between Uganda and Rwanda. President Kagame was accusing the government of Uganda of espionage against his country, abducting Rwandan citizens and detaining them in unauthorized areas, and harbouring dissidents who were actively opposing the Kigali administration. Frosty relations between the two countries became more pronounced when Rwanda closed its borders accusing Uganda of harbouring Nyamwasa\u2019s fighters and arbitrarily detaining and torturing Rwandan nationals\u2014charges Uganda denied. Rwanda had repeatedly accused Uganda of supporting rebel groups planning to topple the government in Kigali while Kampala accused Rwanda of carrying out illegal espionage activities in Uganda. Uganda also accused Rwanda of infiltrating its key security agencies, with authorities saying some Rwandan security officials had direct and indirect contact with key strategic security personnel in Uganda who sent information outside of official channels. In 2017, retired Rwandan army officer Rene Rutagungira was arrested in the Ugandan capital Kampala, and charged for allegedly using a pistol and grenades to abduct Joel Mutabazi, a former bodyguard of Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame. Rutagungira then allegedly delivered Mutabazi to Rwanda, where he was charged with terrorism and sentenced to life in prison. Kampala had granted Mutabazi refugee status. Rwanda insisted that the accused had been on regular travel to the country, while Uganda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs alleged that Kigali had sent a list of its nationals in detention it wanted back, adding that many had already been repatriated. Rwanda also accused Uganda of being linked to hostile groups, including the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) — an armed rebel group operating in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and the Rwanda National Congress (RNC), which is a Rwandan Opposition group. Within the period the Katuna border was closed, Rwandan security forces reportedly shot and killed six individuals\u2014both Ugandans and Rwandan nationals\u2014over smuggling activities. In 2022, Muhoozi spearheaded efforts to revitalize relations between the countries which had been strained by counter-accusations of espionage and support of armed movements in the region. Even after the border\u2019s reopening, traders on the Ugandan side continued to criticize Rwandan authorities for obstructing the passage of certain goods, notably maize flour, into their country.<\/p>\n
Uganda-Rwanda cross-border cooperation<\/b>
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<\/p>\n
The Republic of Uganda and Rwanda \u2018s Police institutions enjoy cross-border cooperation entailed in a memorandum of understanding signed between the two forces under which they committed to jointly develop their capabilities through training, and sharing of experiences and best practices, operations within respective common borders, combating human trafficking and the influx of illegal cross-border and capacity building in other varied policing domains. In 2016, the then Ugandan Inspector General of Police Force, Gen. Kale Kayihura while attending a bilateral meeting between Rwanda and Uganda police forces that was held at the Rwanda National Police (RNP) General Headquarters in Kacyiru, Kigali, said that there is a lot of work to do to jointly confront the threats the two nations face. Gen. Kale Kayihura added that both neighbouring countries need to continue learning and helping each other; when there\u2019s insecurity in Uganda, Rwanda will in some way be affected as well and this necessitates them to respond holistically as a team. Rwanda said that the existing cooperation has helped to lay strategies to find a common way of responding to cross-border and transnational organized crimes.<\/p>\n
Previous meetings<\/b><\/p>\n
On 19 December last year, Ugandan and Rwandan security officials convened the first high-profile cross-border meeting marking a significant development since the Katuna border\u2019s reopening on January 31, 2022. The meeting was endorsed by the president of Uganda Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and President Kagame to address mutual border security challenges impacting both countries. In the past few years, both Rwanda and Uganda security personnel held a meeting in Uganda following growing terror threats, increased theft, and other crimes that were rising in the areas along the borders. The two parties agreed to form a joint force saying that there was growing laxity in security across the with unregulated movement of people and livestock. Both countries’ security officials agreed that all that was happening due to poor communication between the local leaders of the two countries. It was during this meeting that the team agreed to meet regularly and have more joint security meetings with locals at the border stations to check illegal activities. Uganda is now more than ever strengthening relations with other nations. Recently CDF Gen Muhoozi held a meeting with the Israeli Ambassador to Uganda, H.E Michael Lotem to discuss the two nation\u2019s bilateral relations and increased military-to-military cooperation.<\/p>\n
For More News And Analysis About Uganda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Faridah N Kulumba Africa-Press – Uganda. Uganda\u2019s Chief of Defence Forces, First Son Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba this week had a meeting with a military delegation from the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF). The delegation from Rwanda was led by Major General Vincent Nyakarundi, the RDF Army Chief of Staff. The high-profile meeting took place at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":71706,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6,258],"tags":[233,240,234],"class_list":["post-71707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","category-to-homepage","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-uganda","tag-uganda"],"yoast_head":"\n