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Museveni Meets High Command Over Congo

The Monitor (Kampala)
NEWS
14 August 2007
Posted to the web 14 August 2007

By Frank Nyakairu & Francis Mugerwa
Kampala/Kibaale
CONTINUING tensions along Uganda's border with the DR Congo were high on the
agenda of yesterday's High Command meeting chaired by President Museveni.
As the President met his generals and ministers Crispus Kiyonga for defence and
Amama Mbabazi for security, his Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa was in the
Congolese capital Kinshasa trying to diplomatically defuse tensions after armed
people crossed from DR Congo and killed four people on the Ugandan side in the
last two weeks.
Events have moved rapidly since the July 29 capture by the Congolese government
troops of four Ugandan soldiers patrolling Lake Albert.
Now Uganda and DR Congo find themselves locked in a territorial dispute over a
small island on Lake Albert said to be strategically important for exploring
untapped oil wells believed to exist in the area.
Rukwanzi, an island north of Ntoroko County in Bundibugyo District and sitting
on the southern part of Lake Albert, was at the heart of a fire-fight between
DR Congo soldiers and Ugandan forces on August 3, which left a British
contractor dead. The UPPDF spokesman said yesterday that the High Command was
indeed meeting but downplayed the possibility that the border tension was
centre-stage.
"The commander-in-chief has chaired the High Command today but they did not
focus on the border incursions because we are still opting for diplomacy as the
main solution," Maj. Felix Kulayigye said. Highly placed security sources said,
however, that the High Command, which was still meeting by press time, was
discussing the Congo border dispute, amongst other matters.
The dispute has exercised the minds of the security agencies.
In the last two weeks, Brig. Hudson Mukasa, commander of 2 Division in charge
of western Uganda, has maintained a constant presence in Bundibugyo while Lt.
Col. Octavious Butuuro of military intelligence and Mr Emmy Allio of the
External Security Organisation have made several trips to both border districts
of Bundibugyo and Hoima districts.
Military sources said the Bombo meeting sat partly to discuss the reports on
the border situation by the different intelligence agencies. To add urgency to
the meeting in Bombo, it emerged yesterday that on top of having a presence on
Rukwanzi Island, the Congolese army was moving up its troops to Tshomia in
Kasenyi on the DR Congo side of the border.
It was not yet clear by press time what had come out of Mr Kutesa's Kinshasa
trip. But his deputy, Mr Okello Oryem, said that the trip came after President
Museveni's repeated attempts to talk to his Congolese counterpart Joseph Kabila
had failed.
"Though the President has made repeated attempts to talk to President Kabila in
vain, Government has decided to explore all diplomatic options available to
avoid war," Mr Oryem said yesterday.
He added that his boss was "in Kinshasa to continue talks with the Congolese
Government to make sure that we understand one another on these border issues".
The Congolese army attack on a barge operated by Heritage Oil Corp, one of two
companies prospecting for oil in the Lake Albert area, on the morning of August
3 killed a British oil contractor.
A Congolese soldier was also killed when the Ugandans returned fire. They
claimed the barge was on the Congolese side of the lake. Although the attack
was on the barge floating on water, Rukwanzi was quickly sucked into the
picture because it provides a good staging ground for oil exploration and
abundant fishing both in the lake and River Semiliki.
The Congolese army's July 29 capture of the UPDF soldiers, who have since been
freed, and the August 3 raid plus the attack on Kanungu in southwestern Uganda
on August 9 by armed people from DR Congo have combined to poison relations
between the neighbours.
Dr Kiyonga said at the weekend that if the incursions did not stop and if
diplomacy failed, Uganda would have to re-enter the DR Congo. The UPDF was
involved in the Congolese civil war between 1998 and 2003. But as diplomatic
efforts continued yesterday, news came in that the Congolese authorities on the
disputed island had expelled a Ugandan trader.
"Congolese nationals at Rukwanzi arrested Rose Kirungi, 27, and put her on a
boat and told to go back to Uganda," said 2 Division spokesman Tabaro Kiconco.
"We have information that Congolese forces have done covert deployment at
Rukwanzi but for now we are leaving the situation to diplomacy," added Lt
Kiconco. He said Ntoroko County officials were "in the process of securing the
woman's belongings from Rukwanzi".
In another incident, a boat used by the UPDF to patrol Lake Albert was burnt on
Sunday by unidentified people. The incident occurred at Kabukanga Landing Site
in Mpeefu Sub-county in Buyaga, Kibaale District. Mpeefu LC-III Chairman Siraj
Ngabirano said the boat was burnt at night.
"We do not know whether it was [burnt] by Congolese bandits or by criminals who
are active on the lake shores," Mr Ngabirano said. Kibaale RDC Ali Mutawe said
security agencies are investigating the incident.

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