Rwanda gunship enters Uganda, Govt. Protests

Thursday, May 29, 2008


LOOK ALIKE: The Mi-17 military chopper similar to that used by the Rwanda airforce that violated Ugandan airspace.



By Alfred Tumushabe & Rodney Muhumuza

Diplomatic talks have begun to ease tensions and offset the fallout from the May 18 violation of Uganda’s airspace by a helicopter gunship belonging to the Rwandan military.The Monitor can reveal.

Security sources, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media, said a Rwanda’s Mi-17 gunship hovered over the south-western frontier district of Kisoro for a distance of about 80km inside Uganda.

The aircraft spent an hour in Ugandan airspace on the afternoon of May 18, the sources said.

It entered through Kyanika border post and flew over Kisoro airstrip, Murora and Kanaaba sub-counties and Icuya forest, the sources said.

It was also claimed that the aircraft flew at a low altitude of 80-100 meters above sea level, causing panic among residents.

Days before, there had been massive deployment of the Rwandan military on the borderline stretch of Kyanika.

Mr James Mugume, the Foreign Affairs permanent secretary, said yesterday the violation “is an issue” that is being discussed between Kampala and Kigali.

“It’s being discussed, but I think that they have admitted that it was a mistake
[on the part of the Rwandans],” Mr Mugume said.

“It is an issue…Everything is taken seriously.” Mr Kamali Karegesa, Rwanda’s ambassador in Kampala, said he was not comfortable to comment on the issue.

The Rwandans have reportedly said the pilot flying the gunship believed he was in Rwandan territory when he was in fact flying over foreign territory, according to Mr Mugume.

“All we wanted was an explanation from Rwanda. We are [still] discussing,” Mr Mugume said.

The spokesman for the UPDF’s Second Division, Capt. Tabaaro Kiconco, said the violation was suspicious.

“A [Rwanda] military helicopter entered into Uganda [without the knowledge of
Ugandan officials] and there was deployment of [Rwandan Defence Forces] along
the border,” Capt. Kiconco said on Tuesday

Security Meeting

. A security meeting, chaired by the commander of the Mbarara-based 2nd Division, Brig. Charles Otema, was convened on May 20 to discuss the violation.

Our sources could not say whether they suspected the gunship to have been on a reconnaissance mission.

Asked whether the gunship would have been shot down had it stayed much longer, Capt. Paddy Ankunda, the Defence and Army spokesman, could only say that the violation had a diplomatic bearing, not a military one.

Rebels fear

Some sources said the FDLR, a Hutu-led rebel group that is said to be dominated by men who participated in the 1994 Rwandan genocide and has been fighting the government in Kigali, has recently been regrouping in the areas of Kihito and Mpimbi, about 30 km from the common border.

It is suspected that the deployment of the Rwandan military along the border with Uganda reflects the intensity of a new military effort to fight the rebels.

Brig. Otema reportedly said during the May 20 security meeting that no rebel group would use Uganda’s territory to launch an attack on Rwanda.

Under the Tripartite Plus Commission, Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Congo and Burundi have held several meetings whose ultimate goal is to rid the region of “negative forces”.

Funded by the United States, the TPC is supposed to provide a framework within which member states can arrest the leaders of rebel forces operating within the region.

But the arrangement has not been so successful.