Kagame’s War Drums Plunge Rwanda-Uganda Reconciliation Efforts Into Chaos

By David Himbara

Rwanda and Uganda agreed to a set of conditions for normalizing relations. Rwanda sought the removal of General Abel Kandiho from the military intelligence chief position. Rwanda considered him the mastermind of anti-Rwanda activities in Uganda. This demand was met. Kandiho was removed from his post and assigned to serve in South Sudan. Meanwhile, Uganda sought the opening of the Rwanda-Uganda border that General Paul Kagame closed in February 2019. This demand was partially met – Rwanda allows commercial trucks to cross the border but not travellers and buses transporting them.

Fast forward to February 8, 2022. Kagame beat war drums in Parliament as follows: “Anyone who wishes us war, we give it to him. We have professionals capable of executing it. Our doctrine is to fight war on enemy territory because of Rwanda’s small size.” Hours after Kagame’s war drums, Kandiho was declared Chief of Joint Staff of Uganda Police Force. Kandiho is number three in the hierarchy of the Police Command structure after the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and Deputy IGP. Stay tuned.