Trade accusations between Uganda and Rwanda following a dispute over border crossing: The Standard

Uganda on Friday accused Rwanda of blocking the entry of trucks of goods and other vehicles and preventing its nationals from traveling to Uganda in a context of renewed hostility between the two African neighbors.

Rwandan authorities have blocked the entry of vehicles from Uganda since Wednesday, Ugandan government spokesman Ofwono Opondo told reporters in Kampala, adding that 129 cargo trucks were now stranded at the border. .
Rwandan Foreign Minister Richard Sezibera said the trucks were diverted to the northern Kagitumba border crossing because of the construction of the busy Gatuna border crossing. "Those who crossed Kagitumba crossed," he said.
Sezibera said Rwanda barred its nationals from crossing the border because Rwandans traveling to Uganda were arrested and accused of espionage without any consular services.

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"People are coming, people are leaving, except for Rwandans, who have been strongly advised not to go to Uganda because of the insecurity they face," he said. declared.
"It's not in Rwanda. It is up to Uganda to solve the problem. Of course, Ugandans are welcome here, we have no problem on our side of the border. "
Opondo said the Kagitumba crossing was also blocked. Ugandan officials have summoned Rwandan Ambbadador to Uganda, Frank Mugambage, to provide an explanation, he said.
Speaking at a press conference prior to Sezibera's remarks, Mr Opondo also denied the fact that Rwandans were being detained for political reasons, saying that, if there were Rwandans in the Ugandan prisons, they would have been brought to justice and justice.
The dispute over border posts appears to be an escalation of Cold War-type hostilities and allegations of mutual support of dissidents that have been reported in Ugandan and regional media in recent months.

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Opondo said Rwandans arrested at the border included traders and hundreds of children crossing the border daily to Ugandan schools.
Rwanda, a landlocked country, transports a significant amount of its imports via a commercial route through Uganda from Kenyan port, Mombasa.
The same trade route is an essential pipeline for Kenyan exports and also contributes to the supply of goods from Burundi and parts of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. An extended shutdown of people and goods crossing any of the borders along the route may trigger a major regional economic crisis.
Relations between Rwanda and Uganda have historically alternated between friends and hostile.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame was once a key figure in the rebel group that catapulted Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni to power in 1986, and served as a senior intelligence official in Uganda at the end. in the 1980s. Museveni then supported the Kagame rebel group that ended the Rwandan genocide of 1994.

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But the two countries nearly went to war in the late 1990s after their forces clashed in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, where they jointly helped to overthrow former dictator Mobutu Sese Seko before reverse one another.

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UgandaRwandaTrade WarPaul KagameYoweri Museveni