At least 79 Rwandans are expected to be received at Kagitumba One Stop Border Post after being released by Ugandan government from detention facilities where they have been held for varying periods of time. The group is part of the 130 Rwandans that Uganda government officials promised to set free during a meeting with their Rwandan counterparts last week. Sources have told The New Times that 79 Rwandans will be deported in five different cohorts with the first expected to arrive at the Kagitumba border crossing somewhere between 2:30 to 3:00 pm and the last team arriving between 8:30 9:00pm. Plans to set the Rwandans free were announced last week as senior Rwandan and Ugandan officials held a video conference as part of both countries continuing effort to work on normalising relations between both countries. This was the fourth Ad Hoc Commission meeting. During the June 4 meeting, the Rwandan delegation was led by foreign affairs minister Vincent Biruta while the Ugandan side was led by Sam Kutesa, the Ugandan foreign minister. It was also attended by Tete Antonio, Minister of External Relations of Angola, and Gilbert Kankonde Malamba, DR Congos Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Interior, Security and Customary Affairs. Angola and the DR Congo are facilitators in the ongoing process to normalize the relations between Rwanda and Uganda, which was kick-started by a Memorandum of Understanding signed between both countries in the Angolan capital Luanda in September last year. Last week, Kutesa told the meeting that in May, up to 130 Rwandans detained in Uganda were set free and were being processed to be returned home. He added that on Monday and Tuesday, this week, these Rwandans would be handed over to Rwandan authorities at the Cyanika and Kagitumba hills border posts. However, Kutesa said, 310 other Rwandans who he said committed “capital offences” will remain in custody and their details will be shared with Rwanda.
