KAMPALA – President Yoweri Museveni and Rwanda’s Paul Kagame are set to meet once again to “witness the signing of the instruments that enshrine the understandings reached.”
It is understood that the two leaders have reached an agreement to end the political tensions affecting their countries and that they are set to meet in Angola for the second time in two months for talks on security matters in the Great Lakes.
According to Angolan presidency, both President Museveni and Kagame will attend the one-day Quadripartite Summit in the Angolan capital, Luanda, on an invitation by Angolan President João Lourenço.
Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi is also expected to attend the second of a quadripartite summit.
The meeting between the four African statesmen follows the Luanda Summit on 12 July.
The two leaders have met two times – in South Africa, and Angola – but critics say both have received few concessions in the standoff over Rwanda’s border closure in exchange for the meetings.
At the last meeting, Rwanda and Uganda reached understanding to resolve tensions that have erupted between their two countries in recent months, after contacts undertaken by Angola with DR Congo’s assistance.
The Angola foreign minister has in the past week visited Kigali and Kampala to seal the deal.
The statement after the meeting said that “the summit welcomed the political will of (Rwanda and Uganda) to continue dialogue with a view to finding a solution to existing problems.”
Kagame and Museveni, once close allies, have exchanged public accusations of spying on each other’s territory and political interference.
Kampala and Kigali have been feuding since 2017 leading to a breakdown in relations early this year that affected the flow of goods and people across their common border.
Rwanda accuses Uganda of supporting rebels and dissidents opposed to Kagame’s government, a charge that Museveni denies.
Uganda also accuses Kigali of conducting espionage on its soil and infiltrating its security apparatus.
The security and human rights situation in the DRC continues to be of concern, according to the United National Security Council, which reported that at least 890 people were killed in clashes last December in four villages in community clashes.
President Tshisekedi recently vowed to flush out rebel groups in the eastern part of the country and asked neighbouring to join the fight.
The armed conflict in DRC last year forced over 35,000 Congolese to seek refuge in Angola with 900,000 others internally displaced.
Rwanda, Angola, and Uganda host millions of Congolese refugees.
The four heads of state are also expected to discuss the Ebola crisis in eastern DR Congo which has claimed over 1,600 people, according to the World Health Organisation.
