Kampala
  6/12/07
KAGAME TELLS MUSEVENI THEY SHOULD BURRY HATCHET AND WORK TOGETHER.

By Leo Odera Omolo

After a week long visit to Uganda to drum up support for his tiny nations of the application to join Commonwealth clubs of nations mostly formerly British colonies President Paul Kagame of Rwanda also made a concerted effort to mend his country’s relation with its giant neighbours Uganda.

Kagame in an exclusive interview with a team of selected media men explained why normalization of diplomatic relation with Uganda was critical not only to the people of the two countries, but for wider regional stability.

Relations between Kigali and Kampala hit their lowest point in the late 1990s when their armies clashed thrice in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in 2001 when Ugandan interior minister at the time declared Rwanda an ‘’enemy state’’ amid allegations on both sites of the border that Kampala and Kigali were each other’s opposition groups.

Since then relations have warmed up, with Uganda supporting Rwanda’s successful application to join the East African Community (EAC), and the commonwealth.

During a four-day visit to Uganda where he had stolen the show when he gave a key note address to the Commonwealth Business Forum last month President Paul Kagame said that it was time for both countries to bury the hatchet after making these remarks, observers were quick in pointing out that President Kagame has extended to his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni an olive branch, calling for full normalization of relations between the two eastwhile allies.

‘’It doesn’t benefit anyone, neither Uganda nor Rwanda, to keep things as they are’’, President Kagame said adding ‘’I think it is in everybody’s interest, the more we work together, either bilaterally between the two countries, or regionally as members of the East African Community. This is what any sensible person would think is the right thing to do.

President Kagame, however, said the thaw in relations needed to be followed by a positive leap forward in action to normalize relations between the two countries.

He said ‘’Relations between people cannot depend on one side, I would like to think that the two sides, and the people involved at all level, mean well and want to take a positive leap for word.’’

Uganda’s Minister of state for Foreign Affairs Sam, Kutesa said relations between the two countries have been on the mend for a while now and that he saw no reason why they should not continue improving.

Kutesa went on ‘’We supported their application to the Commonwealth and to the East African Community and we have bilateral relations. I think there is a desire by all lot to let the past cloud our actions.’’

In his interview with the Nairobi based EAST AFRICAN President Kagame defended his government’s democratic credentials against criticism that political opponents have been squeezed for political pluralisation in order to achieve accountability in society.

President Kagame, whose government has been in power since 1994, said Rwanda’s political trajectory would not necessarily follow Uganda’s where President Museveni has been in power since 1986, due to differences in the two countries histories and current circumstances.

Uganda’s constitution was controversially changed two years ago to allow President Museveni to run in the 2006 election and President Kagame said it was entirely up to Ugandans or Rwandans to determine who led them and for how long.

Kagame who won seven year Presidential forum in 2003, and who is eligible to run again said his vision was to create institutions within Rwanda that could out live individuals.

He also said that his country’s application to join the Commonwealth, which would be discussed at the 2009 Summit in Trinidad and Tobago was not an attempt to cut the country historical links with the francophone community but a response to its growing English-speaking population.

The Rwandas leader also spoke out strongly on the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, warning that President Joseph Kabila, was not doing enough to address the problem.

I haven’t seen it in real practice and neither is the international community doing anything.

Ends
leooderaomolo@yahoo.com