Uganda’s Media Centre Executive Director Ofwono Opondo on Friday, 22 November 2019, released a press statement disputing the fact the Ugandan government is working closely with Rwanda National Congress (RNC), a terrorist organisation bent on destabilizing Rwanda. Opondo’s statement is full of lies and contradictions and he deliberately ignores even the known facts, which have been corroborated by none other than his boss, President Yoweri Museveni. In the statement, the Museveni mouthpiece labours to dispute the recent list of the 15 members of the Executive Committee of RNC’s “Uganda Province” which was published earlier this week by different media outlets. Ofwono Opondo has not however denied that the individuals mentioned are not in Uganda, and have been cited in several other acts of destabilization activities. For several years, evidence has been piling showing that Uganda has not only become a safe haven for anti-Rwanda groups, it has also been facilitating them. The names themselves (the RNC committee in Uganda) are not new. Take an example of Pastor Deo Nyirigira, who has been the chief recruiter of the outfit, using his Mbarara-based church, AGAPE. He facilitated a group of over 40 Rwandans who were in December 2017 intercepted at the Uganda-Tanzania border, purportedly for missionary work in Burundi. On further interrogation, it was established that the group consisted of militias who were headed to DR Congo through Burundi where they would undergo military training as part of the RNC fighters. Opondo ought to know that his boss, President Museveni in his letter to his Rwandan counterpart in March this year, acknowledged having met RNC leaders including Charlotte Mukankusi, the terror group’s head of diplomacy, and Eugene-Richard Gasana, “by accident”. Mukankusi was even given a Ugandan passport to ease her movements around the world to mobilise support for the group. By trying to imagine things, Opondo forgets that the Luanda MoU was signed on 21st August 2019 and not on 23rd September 2019 as he claimed in the statement. Similarly, neither the Luanda MoU nor the Kigali Communiqué of 16th September 2019 mentions the formation of any Joint Verification Committee. By claiming that Uganda does not host or deal in any way with groups intending to destabilize Rwanda, Opondo forgets that the two senior leaders of the FDLR militia, Abega and Bazeye were arrested at Bunagana border by Congolese authorities as they returned from Uganda to attend a meeting held between 15-16 December 2018. That meeting had brought together representatives of RNC and FDLR under the auspices of CMI and it was aimed at strategizing on how to destabilize Rwanda. RNC is a terrorist organization blamed for the epidemic of grenade attacks in Rwanda between 2010 and 2014 that killed at least 17 people and injured over 400 others. Benjamin Rutabana, the RNC’s Commissioner for Capacity Development has been frequenting Uganda and hosted by CMI operatives and provided military escorts. The same applies to Mugisha Sande, and Frank Ntwali, the RNC Head of Youth Commission. As media personality how can Opondo not be aware that Rwandan detractors have been given media platform to tarnish the image of the government of Rwanda using Ugandas national papers (New Vision, etc)? Additionally, mainstream media like New Vision have carried out a series of negative articles with a deliberate effort to smear the image of Rwanda, while giving an unfettered platform to RNC operatives to spew their anti-Rwanda rhetoric. While all the above is happening, the harassment and persecution of Rwandans in Uganda including illegal arrests and dumping on Rwandan borders etc, has never stopped. Opondo needs to be bold enough to see that the above series of hostilities by the Government of Uganda doesnt need to be verified at all. What is needed is full implementation of the Luanda agreement and refrain from supporting those Rwandan terrorist organisations, period! editor@newtimesrwanda.com
