Uganda, Rwanda in fresh spying row

By Sheila Naturinda & Robert Muhereza

Two Ugandans from Kabale District have been held incommunicado in Rwanda for 10 days, and are yet to be produced in any courts, Parliament heard yesterday. Mr Simpson Mpirirwe, a businessman, and Didas Ndamiye, an accountant at Radio Kigezi, are said to have travelled to Kisoro on private business trips, but were arrested at the Cyanika border post inside Rwanda by the Rwandan military.

Ndorwa West MP David Bahati tabled the matter before Parliament yesterday and asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to follow up and explain the whereabouts of the two who are both from his constituency.

Uganda’s Ambassador to Rwanda Richard Kabonero said his office had got information indicating that the duo was being held on suspicion of subversion. Subversion refers to an attempt to overthrow the established order of a society or state, its structures of power and authority.

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Rwandan government spokesperson Louise Mushikiwabo was unavailable for comment but sources within Kabale and at Cyanika border say the two could have been arrested on suspicion of spying on Rwanda. Maj Jill Rutaremara, the RDF spokesman, could not also be reached as calls by this paper went unanswered.

Mr Bahati asked the government “through the foreign affairs ministry to compel Rwanda to produce the two in courts of law or explain the circumstances surrounding their arrest.”
Mr Kabonero said he had not visited the two and couldn’t confirm their health status but said he was hopeful that he would visit them today. “The Embassy of Uganda wrote a note verbal to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Rwanda, asking for immediate consular access to the detained Ugandans and the charges against them,” he said. “The Embassy followed up by a visit by the Ambassador who met the Permanent Secretary, Mr Eugene Munyakayanza, who promised that the government will respond to the Embassy’s request. We are following up this matter with urgency,” Mr Kabonero said.

Government Chief Whip Daudi Migereko also promised Parliament that the matter would be addressed by the Foreign Affairs Ministry and a status report would be presented to Parliament. The detention is likely to test relations between Rwanda and Uganda which hit rock bottom when the armies of the two countries clashed thrice in DR Congo but have been growing warmer over the last couple of years. There have been several allegations of spying by officials on either side of the border but this is the first such incident in many years.

Back in Kabale, the families of the two men are losing hope of seeing their relatives again. “I am scared for my brother (Ndamiye). My prayer is to see him alive once again,” John Bosco Turyasingura said. Upon arrest, the duo left their car at Cyanika border from where it was picked up. Kabale RDC Cox Nyakairu also said he would follow up the matter with Mr Kabonero and keep the families informed.

Relations between the two countries and between President Museveni and Paul Kagame of Rwanda have improved since Rwanda joined the Commonwealth and the East African Community with support from Uganda