Angola will this week on Wednesday host the second Quadripartite Summit in the capital Luanda, as part of the effort to seek a negotiated resolution to the stand-off between Rwanda and Uganda. According to an official, Rwanda and Uganda are expected to consider a proposal on the way forward made by Angola. Olivier Nduhungirehe, the State Minister in Charge of East African Community at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, confirmed the development in an interview with The New Times. “ We have a quadripartite meeting in Angola on Thursday. Angola has proposed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Rwanda and Uganda,” he said. Angola in July this year committed to serving a mediatory role in the fallout between Rwanda and Uganda after Kigali accused Kampala of backing and propping up groups hostile to Rwanda, including RNC and FLDR. Uganda has also been on the spot for economically sabotaging Rwanda following a pattern of several incidents. A similar summit was held in Angola on July 12 at the invitation of President João Lourenço. The meeting was attended by President Paul Kagame, President Félix Tshisekedi of DR Congo and President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda. Earlier in May, Presidents Kagame, Lourenço and Tshisekedi signed a tripartite agreement in Kinshasa, DR Congo during which they agreed to strengthen cooperation in the area of security, with the objective of uprooting all non-state armed groups in the region that continue to threaten state security. A report published in December 2018 by a UN Group of Experts showed that Uganda was a major source of new recruits for ‘P5’, a coalition of anti-Kigali groups, including Nyamwasa’s RNC and FDLR. The report said the group operates from DR Congo’s South Kivu Province where a recent military offensive by the Congolese military, FARDC, has left many rebel fighters killed or captured. Appearing before the court, two former top FDLR leaders – their spokesperson and their head of intelligence spoke – corroborated earlier accounts of how elements in Uganda’s government had tried to get FDLR and RNC to join hands in their efforts to fight the Rwandan government. However, Uganda is yet to produce Rwandan citizens detained before the courts with Kigali denied consular services and family access. Hundreds have been deported after spending months in Ugandan torture chambers which they (victims) said were mostly run by military intelligence services and were characterized by torture and inhumane conditions. Hundreds of Rwandans are still languishing in ungazetted detention centers in different parts of Uganda.
