Eleven Rwandans were on Thursday at around mid-day received at Kagitumba One Stop Border Post in Nyagatare District after being deported from Uganda where they had been detained for some time. The group that consists of ten men and one woman was received by Rwandan immigration officers. Majority of the deportees who spoke to The New Times said that they were accused of espionage among other unjustifiable crimes for which they were never processed through courts of law. They also say they were tortured by operatives of Ugandas Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence and some of them had vivid signs of torture on their bodies. Like previous cases, however, the deportees claim to have gone to Uganda at different times and for different reasons, with some having lived and worked there for years. After being received by Rwandan authorities, the deportees were tested for Covid-19 and all tests returned negative. Who are the deportees? Innocent Polepole Born and raised in Musanze District’s Gataraga Sector, the 32 year old Polepole was arrested by Ugandan officials in January this year. He was arrested on allegations that he had crossed the border illegally from Kenya. In Kenya, Polepole says that he had gone to visit his friends from the Apostles Church of Christ. Francis Kalisa Kalisa left for Uganda in 2008, where he hoped to pursue his business prospects. The 36 year old said he was arrested last year in December at the CMI headquarters in Mbuya after working in Uganda for over 12 years. For all these months, he endured torture, with CMI operatives accusing him of being a spy for Rwanda in Uganda. Festus Bavugayabo A father of three, Bavugayabo moved to Uganda for casual work, before he could shift his family five years ago. In May this year, he was arrested and detained at different police stations including at Sembabure in the Greater Masaka area, then moved to Kajyumiro Police Station, Kanoni Police Station and Mpigi before he was transferred to Mbuya, the CMI headquarters based in Kampala. Bavugayabo says that the only reason he was told for being detain was that he was Rwandan. William Mugire Mugire married to Phiona Mwangange went to Uganda in 2002 to among others utilise his land that he owned in Isingiro District, in the western part of the country to be able to fend for his family. He later shifted to Lyantonde where he was arrested by Ugandan officials on similar accusations of spying for Rwanda, despite living and working in the country for nearly 20 years. Elysee Niyitanga Elysee Niyitanga son to Emmanuel Ntakazarimara and Matilida Mukankiriho residents of Bugarama Sector in Rusizi District had lived in Uganda for nearly three years. He went in Uganda in August 2018 for casual work, before he was arrested for allegedly being a spy for the Rwandan Defence Force. Marc Twagirumukiza Twagirumukiza who is the youngest among the deportees, is a son to Karamaga and Beatrice Ntiribinyange residents of Mukura Sector in Huye district. He went in Uganda three years ago for casual work. The 23 year old was arrested last month at Nsambya in Kampala and was later transferred to CMI headquarters accused of espionage. Amuri Ngamije Before his detention Ngamije, a father of three, was a businessman in Uganda. He went in Uganda in 2006 to Kampala for casual work and had managed to start his own business in the transport sector. He was arrested on April 21 while at work by CMI operatives and was also detained at Mbuya CMI headquarters on accusation of espionage. Ngamije says he does not know what will happen to his family and business that he left in Uganda. Emmanuel Rutayisire Rutayisire married to Sylvie Tebajuka with whom they have four children, went in Uganda in 2017 in an area called Nakaseke in central Uganda to visit his family. He was arrested March 21 this year accused of being espionage and was in detention until his deportation. Elias Emmanuel Ndahiro Ndahiro went in Uganda five years ago for casual work. He was arrested in 2019, July for allegedly working as a spy for Rwanda and has been in detention for two years without due process. He was forced to live his family behind, in an area called Mutukura. Samson Rwagasana Rwagasana, 58 years, went to Uganda in 2013 where he was working as a driver in a private company. He was arrested for illegal stay on April 24 near the Kagitumba border on his way back to Rwanda. Before moving to Uganda, he was a resident of Gasabo district, Gatsata Sector. Dalie Imaniriyo Imaniriyo daughter to Theoneste Kamali and Vivienne is a resident of in Bushara village. She had crossed to Uganda in June 2019, as a student in Cavendish University. Initially, she was arrested last year by a one Sylvia Namuwonge, an officer sigh Uganda’s internal affairs accused her of having expired documents. She was released but re-arrested last month by the same person, this time accusing of being a Rwandan spy. Illegal detentions of Rwandan nationals in Uganda is one of the sticking issues in the strained relations between the two neighbours, others being Kampala’s alleged support to anti-Kigali militia groups and economic sabotage. Hundreds of people have been illegally detained before being dumped on the Rwandan border and the government of Rwanda has urged their counterparts to produce those they accuse of espionage and present them before courts with evidence to affirm the alleged crime. No one has ever been taken through Ugandan courts.
