President Museveni and Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame will meet
today at the border town of Katuna to discuss the reopening of the main
crossing, a year after Kigali shut it down.
The two mediators,
Presidents João Lourenço of Angola and Felix Tshisekedi of the DR Congo,
are also expected to attend to oversee the implementation of terms
agreed upon in Luanda, the Angolan capital, in August.
Hopes for a
resolution of the conflict rose this week after a prisoner swap in which
Kigali released 20 Ugandans with Kampala setting free 13 Rwandans as
part of the Luanda agreement.
“After assessing the
progress, the heads of state will decide on the way forward,” Rwanda’s
East African Community Affairs minister Olivier Nduhungirehe told Daily
Monitor in a telephone interview yesterday.
“They will have a one-on-one meeting and come up with a way forward.”
The
Luanda agreement also calls for the resumption of cross-border
activities, including the movement of persons and goods, which is
expected to be the main focus of today’s discussions.
The
agreement also called on the two countries to refrain from spying,
financing and training of rival armed groups, respect each other’s
sovereignty and stop arresting nationals living in either country.
Yesterday,
this newspaper reported that Rwandan authorities had raised three new
requests to their Ugandan counterparts for consideration before the
presidents meet.
Rwanda asked Uganda to withdraw a passport issued to
a Rwandan national, Charlotte Mukankusi, who belongs to an opposition
group that is outlawed in Kigali.
Many Rwandans have family ties with Uganda, which they use to obtain passports in Kampala.
Rwanda
also wants Uganda to investigate Self-Worth Initiative, a human rights
organisation based in Kampala, that has been critical of Rwanda over
alleged human rights abuses.
Kigali is also pushing Uganda to
handover two individuals who allegedly participated in an attack on
Rwanda in October in which at least 14 people were killed.
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