Museveni’s brutal security agencies arrest, torture and extort money from two Rwandans travelers

Since the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic, Ugandan authorities have stepped up their systematic attacks on Rwandans. They are using the pandemic as a cover to pursue their anti-Rwandans agenda. Several Innocents Rwandans have been tortured and others brutally chased out of Uganda.

Two cases just emerged, Emmanuel Nambajimana and Habineza, victims of the systematic targeting of Rwandans in Uganda. As they travelled from Jinja through Kampala to Kabale heading back home, they were abducted by Ugandan security organs. They were brutally beaten up and had all their belongings taken.

For the past two years, the duo deal in the honey business. On March 28, 2020 they left Jinja for Kampala and proceeded to Kabale towards the border with Rwanda. However, upon arrival in Kabale, they were intercepted by Uganda Police Force officers who said they were taking them for COVID19 testing; they loaded them on police vehicle claiming that they were driving them to the border. Instead, they took them to a Ugandan military detachment near the border for torture and extortion.

The two Rwandans were brutally beaten up by soldiers using electric cable wires at the military detach and all their travel documents were confiscated. The confiscation is a usual scheme to accuse innocents Rwandans of illegal entry. When soldiers realized that Nambajimana was on the verge of dying from the beatings they administered, they dumped him in a nearby township.

Fortunately, Nambajimana was identified near-death by well-wishers and assisted to cross him into Rwanda. Upon arriving in Rwanda, he was put in Kageyo quarantine site but later transferred to Byumba Hospital because his critical condition.

The police and soldiers that tortured Nambajimana also took his properties. He had with him UGx 2.5 million and his others belongings including phones and clothes. The whereabouts of his colleague, Habineza, are still unknown. We can only imagine his faith from the state Nambanjimana was left in. Habineza, only 24 years old, is another victim of the systematic persecution of innocents Rwandans in Uganda.

While the COVID-19 pandemic is generating unprecedented global effort, solidarity and cooperation, in Uganda the outbreak is now an added excuse to step up their despicable anti-Rwanda agenda.