KAMPALA - Ugandan Banyarwanda women were raped during an expulsion exercise by Tanzanians, a report has indicated. The report by the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) shows that some female Banyarwanda pastoralists were raped during eviction from Tanzania.It also alleges that some Tanzanian authorities committed murder and extorted money from the pastoralists. “In the process of expulsion most (Banyarwanda) lost property and lives,” UHRC said in its 145-page report released yesterday in Kampala. One woman, Flora Mbabazi, reportedly told the commission how she allegedly witnessed Tanzanian police killing her husband, William Kalamuzi, on April 4, 2006. “Women were reportedly raped. Arrests were arbitrary, with some still languishing in jails in Tanzania, and the Commission received reports of extortion by authorities. In the camps, the Commission saw no adequate shelter, no medication, no food and no humanitarian assistance in sight,” the study notes. In June 2006, over 1,000 Ugandan herdsmen and 20,000 cattle were expelled from Kyaka, Karagwe, and Mulamba in Tanzania, and got stranded at Mutukula border in Rakai district. When the UHRC investigative team visited Mutukula three weeks after the expulsion, it was established that majority of the expelled people were Ugandans of Rwandan origin and a few Banyakore-Bahima who formerly occupied areas of western Uganda. That explains why majority were easily absorbed among existing Ugandan communities, the officials said. According to the report, majority of the expelled Ugandans occupied vacant grasslands in Tanzania, with grazing as their major activity. “Their relationship with local people was good, as they could exchange milk for other commodities,” the study noted. Quoting records at Mutukula border internal security office, the report indicates that the expelled people lost at least 30,000 cattle. “For those who were registered at Mutukula border, out of 45,923 cattle owned, they claimed to have lost 30,697 cattle while still in Tanzania, representing a total loss of 67 per cent. After the expulsion Tanzania officials told Kampala and Kigali that their people were evicted because they were illegal immigrants, and that they had occupied the largest East African nation’s wetlands. Based on documents that the commission investigators were able to see, however, some of the expelled Ugandans had either already acquired work permits that had not yet expired or had become Tanzanian citizens through naturalisation.Ends
