President Yoweri Museveni and his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame are set to hold one-on-one bilateral talks tomorrow, Sunday according to sources.
President Paul Kagame is scheduled to visit Uganda for a one day working visit at State House Entebbe on Sunday. During Kagame’s visit, the two leaders are expected to discuss bilateral relations between Uganda and Rwanda that have in recent months deteriorated.
This will be the second time Museveni and Kagame are holding face-to-face talks since January this year when they met on the sidelines of the 30th Extra Ordinary African Union Heads of State Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
In the meeting, the two leaders discussed among other issues regional security and issues of continental importance.
It followed a visit on January 6 by Uganda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sam Kutesa to Kigali in which he delivered a special message from President Museveni to President Kagame.
Despite their entangled history that is hinged on the countries’ armed liberation struggles, the Kigali and Kampala administrations have recently harbored animosity against each other.
It stems from counter accusations that have made headlines in numerous media across the region, and culminated into a protest note from Kigali late last year which pointed to “multiple unjustified arrests” of Rwandans in Uganda. Rwanda also accuses Uganda of facilitating rebel elements tied to the diaspora based opposition group, Rwanda National Congress (RNC).
On its part, Uganda has accused the government of Rwanda of espionage perpetrated with the aid of some elements in security agencies in Uganda. Kampala also says Rwanda has committed illegal kidnaps and repatriations of Rwandan refugees living in Uganda.
Obeservers have previously urged for urgent diplomatic engagement between the two neighbouring countries to prevent relations from worsening.
For many decades, relations between Rwanda and Uganda have revolved not just on political and social aspects but economics as well as strategic infrastructure. It should be noted that Rwanda largely relies on Uganda as a gateway for its imports from the coast of Mombasa in Kenya.
