The Commander of Land Forces of the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF), Lieutenant General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, arrived in Kigali on Saturday, January 22 for a one-day visit. Kainerugaba is also the first born son of President Museveni and a Senior Presidential Advisor in charge of Special Operations. He held a tête-à-tête with President Paul Kagame at Village Urugwiro where they discussed the restoration of bilateral ties between the two countries Later in the afternoon, the Head of State hosted his guest to lunch. JUST IN: Ugandas General @mkainerugaba has just landed at Kigali International Airport. He is in #Rwanda for a one day visit and will be meeting with President #Kagame later this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/KAfn6NIwHC — The New Times (Rwanda) (@NewTimesRwanda) January 22, 2022 Kainerugaba was recieved at Kigali International Airport by Brig Gen Willy Rwagasana, the Commandant of Republican Guard and Col. Ronald Rwivanga, the Defence and Military Spokesperson, among others. Prior to this visit, Kagame had also received Ambassador Adonia Ayebare who was in Kigali to transmit a special message from President Museveni of Uganda. The consecutive bilateral visits are seen as the latest effort towards normalizing relations which have been strained for at least four years, according to regional security experts. Last week, Kainerugaba, an avid user of the microblogging site Twitter, had posted a tweet, which was welcomed by many in which he warned those fighting President Kagame. “This is my uncle, Afande Paul Kagame. Those who fight him are fighting my family. They should all be careful.” This is my uncle, Afande Paul Kagame. Those who fight him are fighting my family. They should all be careful. pic.twitter.com/YwBM5DwX0S — Muhoozi Kainerugaba (@mkainerugaba) January 16, 2022 The relations between Rwanda and Uganda were strained following a number of grievances by the former which the latter had failed to address. These included hosting hostile groups which use Uganda as a base to plan activities to destabilise Rwanda and enjoy support by from some Ugandan public institutions. Others include the arbitrary arrest, abduction, torture and illegal detention of Rwandans by Ugandan security forces, among others.
