Ugandan officials told their Rwandan counterparts on Monday, June 8, 2020 about continuing shooting dead Ugandans illegally found crossing into Rwanda.
Ugandan officials, including Kabale Resident District Commissioner Darius Nandinda and Kabale District Chairman Patrick Besigye Keihwa, told Rwandan officials Ms Marie Chantel Uwanyirigira, while receiving the body of Sidini Muhereza, 35, a Ugandan businessman who was shot dead last Monday as he allegedly smuggled match boxes into Rwanda,
“If every person that committed crime was shot dead, the world would be in problems. It is our appeal that Rwandan security officials use other means of punishing Ugandans that commit crime in their country. In the spirit of the East African Community, killing illegal entrants is bad,” Mr Nandinda said.
“We are soon handing over to you 19 Rwandans that have been on remand in Ndorwa government prison in Kabale because president Museveni pardoned them. They will tell you that during their stay in the government prisons they were being fed well. Shooting and killing a Uganda because he/she has illegally entered your country is inhuman,” Mr Besigye said.
In response Ms Uwanyirigira said the Ugandan businessman Sidini Muhereza’s shooting and killing was not intended.
“After he was arrested, he used traditional tools to fight the Rwandan security officials that shot him in self-defence. We condemn smuggling goods into our country,” she said.
Muhereza is now the fifth Ugandan businessman to be shot and killed in Rwanda while he has allegedly smuggled goods to the same country
Last February, Rwanda closed its Katuna border with Uganda and prohibited entry of its nationals into Uganda.
