By: Godwin Agaba
As the two neighbouring countries, Uganda- Rwanda, stand at the verge of war with each other, a recurrent passport scandal lurks in the shadows. It is common knowledge in security circles that on a number of occasions a number of Ugandans working as Rwandan agents in the region and beyond use Rwandan passports to escape from their trackers.
A case in point is ACP Jonathan Baroza who was an aide to former IGP, Gen. Kale Kayihura and is now wanted by Ugandan authorities on charges which his former boss and other senior officers have been charged with, including the kidnap and forceful repatriation of refugees to Rwanda.
Baroza had been deployed in Algeria but when authorities at home summoned him to face charges, its allegedly that he took a detour to Rwanda where he was facilitated with a diplomatic passport which he used to flee to Canada.
There was the case of Sarah China Keitetsi, a bush war damsel who opened a case against Uganda on charges of using child soldiers (kadogos) and her self she claimed to have suffered torture and sexual abuse at the hands of the NRA.
She lost the case and is married to a Dutch and lives in Denmark. While plotting against Uganda, she was using a Rwandan passport, signalling who her sponsors were. She was a frequent visitor to Kigali where she would link up with her Ugandan family. Her half sister later used a Rwandan passport to move to Canada.
In 2006, Ugandan security interrogated officials of the immigration department over issuance of a passport to the leader of a rebel group, Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda based in DR Congo, Murwanyashaka. In 2005 Uganda Peoples Defense Forces (UPDF) No. R0452 Captain David Kibirango Mugambe fled Uganda and went into hiding in Rwanda and it’s also alleged he was later granted a Rwandan passport to travel to Scandinavia.
On may 29 2011, Ugandan security arrested suspected Rwandan spy , Leyon Amigo Rubagumya alias Majuju in a Kampala hotel with a gun . ( we reported a story on 256 news and Scotland Yard police later took over his case) .He had three passports with him-of UK, Uganda and Rwanda-which he used alternatively in case he was smoked out. Uganda has over time investigated the rampant abuse of immigration privileges and the prestige of its passport by foreigners which information is cached in high level intelligence records probably for use at an opportune time .
