Four years ago they started the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by invading that country to overthrow president Laurent Kabila. Now that Rwanda and Uganda have fallen out they seem bent on keeping alive a conflict that has already cost more than two million lives.
Rwandan troops left the DRC last October, meeting their obligations under the Pretoria agreement signed on July 30. Uganda has promised to have its troops out by the end of April.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad, speaking ahead of the Great Lakes Summit, said: “We are growing increasingly concerned about relations between Rwanda and Uganda. Accusation is followed by counter accusation. ‘Are Rwandan troops returning to the DRC?’, ‘Are the Ugandans not going to leave as promised this month?’ In fact it is time for all foreign troops to quit the DRC and to stop supporting non-statutory elements within that country.”
Concern was also expressed in Washington and London that the former allies are endangering the fragile DRC peace process.
“Clashes between Ugandan troops and groups allied with Rwanda have already occurred in north-eastern DRC,” United States Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Charles Snyder told the US House of Representatives sub-committee on African affairs.
“A direct clash between their armies is possible. Various Congolese factions have taken advantage of the Rwanda-Uganda divide to improve their own standing militarily or politically, making north-eastern DRC particularly volatile,” Snyder said.
“Rwanda believes that its interests are threatened by events in eastern Congo. As a result, Rwanda continues to exercise influence in eastern Congo through Congolese allies whom it supports financially and with military supplies and advisory personnel. Rwanda has raised the possibility that it might be forced to intervene again in eastern Congo,” Snyder added.
Rwandan troops were reportedly pushing northwards to the Ituri district in the DRC. Rwanda has also been accused of using proxies to fight Uganda in Ituri.
Uganda has recently paraded rebels, allegedly operating in north-west Uganda and supported by Rwanda, before the press. Reports from Kampala said that the 22 men were proof that the authorities in Kigali had been harbouring and training dissident Ugandans with the aim of destabilising the country.
Rwanda says the charges are a fabrication.
“We support efforts by the regional parties to reduce tensions between Rwanda and Uganda. The relationship between President [Paul] Kagame and Ugandan President [Yoweri] Museveni has steadily worsened over recent years,” Snyder said.
“The recent warming of relations between Kampala and Kinshasa is also of concern to Rwanda. The international community — most notably the British — has made several efforts to lower tensions between the two presidents, and we strongly support our British allies in this,” he added.
“Though the threat to Rwanda from Rwandan Hutu rebels, some of whom were involved in the 1994 genocide, has been greatly reduced since 1996 and 1998, these forces do continue to operate in eastern Congo,” Synder said.
The Foreign Office in London said the British government was “gravely concerned about the deteriorating situation in Ituri and increased tension between the Congolese parties to the conflict and Uganda and Rwanda.
“This threatens the peace and security of the Great Lakes region.
“Following recent progress on implementation of the global and inclusive agreement for a transitional national government in the DRC, it is important that all parties exercise restraint.
“Britain strongly backs the UN Security Council call for the complete withdrawal of all foreign troops from the DRC and for the Ugandan government to withdraw all its forces by the end of this month. British Secretary of State for International Development Clare Short has played a vigorous peacekeeping role between the two countries over the past 18 months, but with her attention now focused on Iraq and the emergency needs there after the war is over, there are concerns that the growing war of words between Kampala and Kigali could spin out of control.”
The two sides have clashed in the DRC before, but Britain’s role as a mediator in establishing a “memorandum of understanding” between Kampala and Kigali has in the past enabled it to defuse the tension between the two countries.
The United Kingdom is trying to resolve the matter again, but some fear that without heavyweight ministerial backing this may not succeed.
Moreover, there are fears that the violence in Ituri will derail the whole peace process.
Kagame has denied that Rwandan troops have re-entered the DRC. But he warned that his troops could return if Rwanda’s security were threatened.
Kagame criticised the international community for its “pre-occupation” with the issue of Rwandan troops going back to the DRC “despite their failure to intervene during the 1994 genocide and to address the problem of interahamwe militias, who continue to pose a security threat to Rwanda”.
“We don’t want anything back in Congo. We don’t want anything there other than to ensure that the security of our people is guaranteed. And for that we are going to do whatever it takes to ensure that genocide does not repeat itself,” Kagame said.