UPDF, Police Arresting People without National IDs in Kisoro

People moving without Ugandan National Identity cards in the South Western district of Kisoro stand at a high risk of being arrested and detained by Uganda security forces.

This, The Tower Post learnt about on Sunday night having witnessed people being pulled out of cars and buses and getting arrested.

The arrests are made in stinger operations mounted by the Uganda Police in conjunction with the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF) along the Kisoro-Kabale road.

Kisoro town lies in the border of Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

It is suspected that foreign nationals from Rwanda and Congo are crossing over on foot and boarding cars to infiltrate Uganda.

“This is a risky border town and with without National IDs, the UPDF will arrest you. You know what is happening between Uganda and Rwanda, you have to prove that you are a Ugandan for you to be released,” Nizeyimana (not real name) a high ranking leader in Kisoro who preferred anonymity told this website.

Currently, diplomatic relations between Uganda and Rwanda are not at the best as the two countries continue to fight a “cold war.”

Although Rwanda’s Paul Kagame and Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni, have met severally, discussed and committed to work together again, Kagame says nothing seems to be working.

“We have made so many pronouncements, we have made statements. When it comes to optics, to the microphones, we are saying the best things and the right things. But we should make an effort to do those things, not just say them,” Kagame told Daily Monitor in a recent interview.

Museveni has however not comeout to comment on the ongoing impasse between the two countries.

Uganda has however arrested a number of senior security officers who were suspected to be conniving with the Rwandan government to repatriate some Rwandans in Uganda.

Also, four top staffers at telecommunicaions company MTN Uganda were recently deported for alleged involvement in activities that compromise national security. One of the four was a Rwandan National.

“It doesn’t hurt anyone to keep on trying. What hurts is keeping quiet. And of course things are not improving because of that. Because we’re not doing much. We have had discussions over this for two years, we can resolve them whether it is egos or just wishing that things should be bad,” Kagame is further quoted by Daily Monitor as having said.

He however blamed the feud on some ‘elements in South Africa’ who he said are feeding wrong information to Uganda for their own benefit.

“It is these individuals in South Africa plotting all kinds of things against us [and they] are the ones giving information to Uganda in a way to solicit support from Uganda against us.”

For now, according to Nizeyimana, the operations are mounted in the night and they target cars and buses leaving the town towards Kabale.

It is not clear why security organs are carrying out such operations and making such arrests.

Tricia Ishimwe