By Spy Uganda
Rwanda yesterday released Special Forces soldier who was detained weeks back, hours after Commander of Land Forces of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) Lt. Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba had returned from a successful trip to Kigali, where he held talks with Rwanda President Paul Kagame.
The above was confirmed by Muhoozi who tweeted, “I further thank President Kagame for honouring my request to release our SFC soldier, Private Ronald Arinda, who strayed into Rwandan territory on personal business without permission. I returned with him tonight to Uganda. Longlive the friendship of the two countries.”
I further thank President @PaulKagame for honouring my request to release our SFC soldier, Private Ronald Arinda, who strayed into Rwandan territory on personal business without permission. I returned with him tonight to Uganda. Longlive the friendship of the two countries. pic.twitter.com/Z8vYVGurhT
— Muhoozi Kainerugaba (@mkainerugaba) January 22, 2022
Meanwhile, Kagame sounded positive about his meeting with Muhoozi. He tweeted; “President Kagame and General Muhoozi had cordial, productive and forward looking discussions about Rwanda’s concerns and practical steps needed to restore the relationship between Rwanda and 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.”
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 from some Ugandan public institutions.
Others include the arbitrary arrest, abduction, torture and illegal detention of Rwandans by Ugandan security forces, among others.
The Ugandan government has dismissed the allegation as not true.
On the other side, Uganda accuses Rwanda of infiltrating its security agencies, with authorities saying some Rwandan security officials had direct and indirect contact with key strategic security personnel in Uganda who have sent information outside of official channels to Rwanda, a claim the Kigali establishment denies.
