KAMPALA – The Opposition Chief Whip, Hon Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda has asked the government to issue a travel advisory stopping Ugandans intending to travel to Rwanda arguing that citizens get killed on the other side of the border with impunity.
He made the remarks on Tuesday, January 28 in the plenary sitting at Parliament in Kampala.
“The immediate information I wanted from the government on Rwanda is on Ugandans being killed there; do they [Ugandans] continue to travel to Rwanda or travel advisories will be issued,” said Ssemujju.
Ssemujju said that Rwanda advised her citizens against traveling to Uganda at the start of the conflict that has since seen the Katunta-Gatuna border closed.
“Uganda has fallen short on issuing similar advisories placing citizens at risk,” he said.
Last week, Ssemujju asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to present a statement to Parliament on the current state of relations with Rwanda, but in an early morning call to the Deputy Speaker, Foreign Affairs Minister Hon Sam Kutesa, asked for more time.
“This morning I received a call from the Minister of Foreign Affairs [Sam Kutesa] who said he is away and that there is a Committee that is handling the issues and part of their findings will be included in the statement,” said Oulanyah.
At a joint news conference last year, Uganda handed over a dozen Rwandan prisoners to their High Commissioner, Maj Gen Frank Mugambage, in a bid to thaw frosty relations.
The explosive news conference at which Maj Gen Mugambage delivered stinging criticism of Uganda indicated the relations could as well be far from getting normalised.
The following week, another Ugandan was shot in Rwanda, deepening the escalations.
President Yoweri Museveni, however, posted a short statement on his Facebook page last year, exuding confidence that the relations will be normalised.
