Kayihura in trouble

The Rwandan twist

Apart from these police officers, the other two suspects were; a former Rwandan soldier, Rene Rutanungira, who has been living in Uganda and a Congolese national, Bahati Mugenga. The inclusion of the Rwandans has added a tense diplomatic twist to the saga.

Reading from the charge sheet, Lt. Gen. Andrew Gutti, who was appointed the Chairman of the General Court Martial last year, said the officers, around October 25, 2013, while in unlawful possession of firearms and grenades ordinarily a monopoly of the Defence Forces, conveyed Joel Mutabazi a former presidential guard for Rwanda President Paul Kagame and Jackson Kalemera without their consent to Rwanda.

A military source said that by Nov. 20 when the suspects return to court, the charges will likely have been amended to include more than just the two cases of illegally extraditing Rwandese refugees.

Observers find the case interesting because of its timing. It is four years now since Lt. Mutabazi was taken from Sky Hotel in Naalya, a Kampala suburb where he was living with his family. Mutabazi was later charged with terrorism and sentenced to life in prison in Rwanda.

But most importantly, Mutabazi’s case played out in the media. Ugandan authorities knew when it happened, had the capacity to investigate it and try those behind it at the time. Indeed, the officer who oversaw it, Aguma, was suspended before bouncing back in police leadership a year later.

Museveni’s handlers claim the president’s interest in the case was reignited when while in New York for the United Nations General Assembly in September, on the sidelines of the main events, a UN official complained to him about the continued extraditing of Rwandan refugees.

However, Museveni is not one to reopen old wounds of an ally lightly. More so he and his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, have since their rapprochement in 2011 maintained several formal and informal channels through which such issues could be raised.

In this case, however, insiders say Uganda has not raised any complaints with the Rwandan government. Instead, it is Rwanda, which has been raising concerns that Uganda is habouring Rwandan people who have fled Rwanda and are hostile to Kagame’s government.

It has been pointed out that although in 2009, the Rwandan Foreign Affairs Minister and his Ugandan counterpart signed an extradition treaty; Uganda has not ratified it although Rwanda has.

This is amongst several issues, according to insiders, that have made Uganda-Rwanda relations appear cranky at the moment. That the trial happens around this time and targets only those around Kayihura speaks volumes, observers say.