Rwandan soldier sneaks into Uganda

It is reported that he crossed the border with six other armed men who turned back while he chose to stay. Private Ndagizimana is reportedly attached to Rwanda’s 501 Brigade, under the 2nd Military Division commanded by Brig. Gen. Jean Bosco Rutikanga. 

Kabale Resident District Commissioner Mr. Godfrey Nyakahuma said the soldier was intercepted at about 6:00pm. 

Mr. Nyakahuma said the soldier’s arrest was a result of the security sensitisation of border communities, the sentisation focused on vigilance. 

“The wananchi work as our first line of defence along the border. Due to vigilance, people intercepted the soldier. They wanted to lynch him, but he was rescued by our Gombolola internal security officer of Butanda sub-county, who fired bullets to disperse the angry mob and took him to Kabale Central Police Station,” Mr. Nyakahuma said.

He added that several residents along the Rwanda border had been forcefully arrested and taken to Rwanda, with the Government of Rwanda slapping charges against them. 

“Some are still in detention centres of Rwanda and others we do not even know their whereabouts. Some have been killed upon entering Rwanda and we have often received bodies of our people from Rwanda to be buried here in Kabale,” Nyakahuma said. 

Rwandan soldiers have crossed into Uganda before, especially when, in 2019, Rwandan soldiers entered Rukiga district in hot pursuit of what they said was a suspected smuggler.

The Rwandan soldiers shot both a Rwandan and Ugandan national, and fled back to Rwanda amidst official protest from the Ugandan government. 

In June this year, Uganda accused Rwandan soldiers of crossing into Uganda’s territory and abducting a Uganda People’s Defence Forces soldier attached to the 35th Battalion based in Kisoro. 

In March 2019, Rwanda closed its borders to Uganda following a diplomatic row which continues today. 

Source: The New Vision