Lieutenant General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the Commander of the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) Land Forces, on Tuesday, March 15, paid tribute to victims of the Tutsi Genocide at the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Gisozi. Located in Gisozi suburb, Kigali Genocide Memorial is home to over 250,000 victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi. After touring the memorial, Muhoozi, who is in the country since Monday, wrote a tribute thanking the government of Rwanda for establishing the memorial which he said will make future generations fearful of repeating the crime of Genocide. Im very saddened by what happened in Rwanda in 1994, the Genocide against Tutsis, he wrote. “I appreciate the countrys leadership, led by His Excellency Paul Kagame, for deciding to establish this memorial so that future generations will not repeat the mistakes of their predecessors. Muhoozi also went to the Campaign Against Genocide Museum in Kimihurura (CAG), where he was given a tour and explained the liberation struggle by Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF). Located in the Parliamentary Buildings, the museum chronicles the four-year liberation struggle that led to the stopping of the Genocide in July 1994. He also paid a visit to the Remera-based Kigali Arena, the citys main event venue, which hosts basketball and volleyball competitions as well as concerts. Photos that later emerged showed him shooting hoops in one of the nets in the Arena. Muhoozi, who is also a Senior Presidential Advisor on Special Operations, arrived in Kigali on Monday, March 14 and was received by President Paul Kagame at Village Urugwiro. He is in Rwanda as part of continued attempts to improve relations between the two nations, following his first official visit in late January 2022, during which he met with President Kagame and had a tête-à-tête with him. The diplomatic relations between Rwanda and Uganda have begun to thrive after the two nations borders were reopened at the beginning of February, following Muhoozi’s first visit. It had been four years since Rwandas borders were closed in 2018 as a result of Ugandas failure to address a number of grievances that have for years been raised by the former. Among the concerns were antagonistic groups that utilize Uganda as a base to plan activities to destabilize Rwanda and receive support from various Ugandan state institutions. Arbitrary arrest, kidnapping, torture, and illegal imprisonment of Rwandans by Ugandan security personnel are among the other issues that have been at the core of the diplomatic standoff between the two neighbouring countries.
