Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) has vehemently dispelled a heap of “unfounded,” “false” and “reckless” comments engineered by Rwanda Army (RDF) that Uganda is hosting the M23 rebel outfit which attacked DRC on Sunday night.
The UPDF spokesperson Gen. Flavia Byekwaso told this website on Wednesday following the RDF’s statement which circulated on internet that the content in that document was reckless baseless and untrue.
She wondered why a whole professional military establishment would choose to peddle falsehoods well knowing the truth in relation to Uganda government, the M23 and the role UPDF played in neutralizing this rebel outfit in 2013.
“M23 was defeated and they surrendered. They were disarmed by government and settled in refugee camps in Northern Uganda. The government of Uganda working with other member states in the region worked on integrating these refugees in their communities,” Byekwaso told this website.
A brief press statement from the Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF) alleged that Uganda was hosting M23 from where the rebels launched an attack on DRC on Sunday.
“The Rwanda Defense Force is neither involved in nor supports activities of the ex M-23 armed group. It has been reported that an armed group believed to be ex M-23 rebels, on Sunday evening 7 November , crossed into DRC from Uganda territory where it is based and attacked and occupied The villages of Tshanza and Runyongi”, reads RDF statement.
A visibly enraged Gen Byekwaso advised that RDF should desist from making explosive remarks that could further worsen the already simmering relations between the two countries.
She said Rwanda very well knows that Uganda is the only country in the region that has been championing the integration of East African Community (EAC).
The Commander in Chief of UPDF Gen. Yoweri Museveni has since time immemorial espoused will for the integration fronting solid reasons why the member states need to come together for a common good
However, the Rwanda leader Gen Paul Kagame in 2018 closed border barring Ugandans and Ugandan goods from entering his country.
He closed the border at a time he was the serving as the Chairman of the EAC.
A number of times he has justified his actions saying Uganda had become a “bully” in the region. His counterpart however, wonders, “a bully how?”