As the saying goes that there will always be light at the end of the tunnel, so it did happen as Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba stood out in the year 2022 as the shinning star that would turnout to be a beacon of hope to the Pearl of Africa!
Solving the 3 year old conflict and forging a reconciliation among the two countries Rwanda and Uganda, a conflict that inflicted countless wounds not only on our economy but also in our people, is such a great achievement that we shall live to celebrate!
Truth be told that all the diginatories; the ambassadors, the Ministers of Foreign affairs, the Heads of State for both Uganda and Rwanda, the regional bodies like East African Community, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), The International conference on great lakes region etc had failed to solve this crisis!
Had it not been the diplomatic and great leadership skills of Gen Muhoozi to diagonise and solve this crisis, the boarder of Rwanda & Uganda would still be closed today!
We do not only celebrate what we achieved per say but also what we avoided as well. The crisis between Rwanda and Uganda would potentially plunge the whole region into violence. With the ongoing M23 & ADF insurgencies, DRC would have become a melting pot for these disagreements, we would see another Kisangani incident happen, and with the already volatile situation in South Sudan, Somalia, CAR, Chad etc, if Uganda which is the basin of peace had lost patience & confronted Rwanda, the crisis in the great lakes region would have been immense, thanks to MK who averted all this!
For those especially youths who haven’t seen war, the Ukraine – Russia war should give you a point to learn, the refugee camps hosting over 1.3m refugees in Uganda should teach you that war is not a tea party, indeed we are glad that MK foresaw, and proactively solved a potential catastrophy!
It is sickening that the two Heads of State had been fed on lies by their intelligence bodies and the common people were paying the price.
Uganda was losing 400bn per year due the closure of this boarder, Katuna boarder point a usually busy place had turned into a ghost of it’s own!
The bonafide Banyarwanda in Uganda paid a heavy price for this crisis, it’s at this moment that segregation was at its peak, to the extent that we resolved to be called “Bavandimwe” because of unbearable persecution!
The safe houses at CMI were filled by bonafide Banyarwanda many of whom were never tried in courts of law!
Telephoning in Rwanda had Become a crime and many bonafide Banyarwanda elites in Uganda had to get Kenyan simcards, and use them to make WhatsApp calls if they wanted to communicate to their relatives, family and friends in Rwanda!
The bonafide Banyarwanda could nolonger get passports, national IDs simply because of their tribe.
As a result, the emotional & sychological torture they went through was unimaginable & irreparable, cancer patients died, many missed job opportunities, schalarships and other life time opportunities simply because they couldn’t be granted travel documents.
All this immense suffering came to us the Banyarwanda in Uganda in total silence by the country, we bled and suffered but no body cared for us, we were tortured physically and emotionally but nobody bothered about our plight from the Cabinet to Parliament or Judiciary, from religious leaders to civil society, from international community to political parties, our cries went unheard!
We were left to suffer in the middle of a conflict we never caused, the support to NRM party by majority of Banyarwanda did not save the situation, we were abandoned in isolation, as everybody went mute, thanks to MK for coming to our rescue!
The Pan African in MK stepped forward to solve this outstanding conflict, the patriot in MK liberated us from immense suffering, the visionary leader in MK resolved a conflict & mitigated a looming war in the region!
The trade relations between Uganda and Rwanda have stabilized, our people can now enter or exit Rwanda without question, the region is now flourishing!
The recent visit and performance by the Ambassadors of Christ at Serena Conference crowns it all, it symbolized the blood ties between Rwanda and Uganda that had gone sour!
Indeed MK was a winner, he was a winner of peace as President Kagame put it that “a great general is not he who wins the war but he who wins the peace”!
It’s for this reason that MK is a man of 2022. He is a man on whose wisdom Uganda is at peace with Rwanda. His recent visit to Ethiopia, several visits to Kenya & Rwanda and his soft approach to diplomatic bottlenecks will produce more fruits for the region!
Thank You Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba & God bless you!
Frank M.Gashumba.
Chairman General Council for Abavandimwe
Info@frankgashumba.com
+256704555555
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