Angola set to host Museveni and Kagame again

Luanda, Angola | THE INDEPENDENT & AFP | President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Rwanda’s Paul Kagame are expected to hold discussions in Angola next week, the second such meeting in two months.

According to a press release from the Angolan presidency, they two leaders will be the second of a quadripartite summit that will bring them together with President Joao Lourenco of Angola and Felix Tshisekedi of DR Congo.

According to the press release, the meeting between the four African statesmen follows the Luanda Summit on 12 July. The four heads of state will on on August 21 witness the signing of the instruments that enshrine the understandings reached.

At the last meeting, Rwanda and Uganda reached understanding to resolve tensions that have erupted between their two countries in recent months, after contacts undertaken by Angola with the DR Congo’s assistance. The Angola foreign minister has in the past week visited Kigali and Kampala to seal the deal.

The statement after the meeting said that “the summit welcomed the political will of (Rwanda and Uganda) to continue dialogue with a view to finding a solution to existing problems.”

Minister Manuel Augusto delivers two messages of President João Lourenço, to his counterparts Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda.

🇦🇴🇷🇼🇺🇬 pic.twitter.com/LAiff8THbA

— MOFA / MRE Angola (@angola_Mirex) August 14, 2019

The August 21 event is a followup of the July 12 summit also held in Angola’s Luanda which brought together the heads of state of the four countries. The July meeting convened by the Angolan president was devoted to regional security, cooperation and strengthening of ties among the four countries.

Uganda-Rwanda tensions

Rwanda’s Kagame and Yoweri Museveni, once close allies, have exchanged public accusations of spying on each other’s territory and political interference.

Trade has been severely disrupted since late February when Rwanda abruptly closed the border with its northern neighbour, severing a major economic land route.

Apart from a brief interlude in June the frontier has mainly remained shut, damaging the economies of both countries reliant on cross-border trade.

In May, Ugandan police accused Rwandan soldiers of entering the country and killing two men, drawing an angry denial from Rwanda.

Analysts say the spat between Kagame and Museveni could threaten stability in the strife-prone region.