{UAH} Arms race could turn region into tinderbox

Arms race could turn region into tinderbox

MONDAY MAY 20 2019

    

Border crisis. Trucks of cargo heading to Rwanda stuck at Katuna Border Post on February 2 following Rwanda's closure of its border. PHOTO BY ROBERT MUHEREZA 

In Summary

Spectre of war. As countries in the Great Lakes ramp up their firepower, it has raised a spectre of war that could return to haunt the volatile region. Although conflicts in the Great Lakes tend to be largely intrastate, due to cross-border dimensions and transnational ethnic identities, these conflicts have often spread to destabilise the whole region. With deep-seated suspicion and hostility among neighbouring states, East Africa's military spending rose by $200 million last year to $2.9 billion, writes Emma Mutaizibwa.

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By Emma Mutaizibwa

Given the frosty relations between Rwanda and Uganda and Burundi and Rwanda, there are fears that a prevailing arms race could turn the region into a tinderbox.
On Thursday, Uganda's Foreign Affairs minister Sam Kutesa told heads of missions accredited to Uganda that Rwandan security operatives have been entering the country without permission.
"A number of Rwandan security operatives have been entering Uganda without following laid down procedures governing the entry of security personnel into the country," Mr Kutesa said.

Mr Kutesa said Uganda has been a target and victim of terrorist attacks including assassinations of Muslim shieikhs and senior government officials and that the government of Uganda should take seriously its duty and obligation to protect its citizens and its borders.
His comments come three months after Rwanda shut the Katuna border and advised its citizens to desist from travelling to Uganda because of safety concerns.

"It seems to be tension so much deeper that we can see. But which has been kept quiet. It's almost like an intelligence war between the countries. It's fought in the shadows but you don't see visible troop deployments as it used to be between President Idi Amin and Julius Nyerere," argues Timothy Klyegira, a journalist.
He adds: "But when the Rwandan foreign minister [Richard Sezibera] says citizens should not travel and are not safe at a press conference, what else don't you say at a press conference? It's like the worst relations in 25 years."

Kira Municipality MP Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda says: "What Kutesa says will make the situation worse. He is now telling Rwanda to stop provoking Uganda. They had kept quiet. And that is what Kagame had said that we don't have to be friends and let everybody mind its business and I take that advice. Otherwise this continued quarrelling would even cause us a war, which is unnecessary." 
Security analysts fear that this hostility and deep-seated suspicion could result into further purchase of weaponry in anticipation of war.

Research conducted
According to data released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri), an independent global security think tank, East Africa's military spending rose by $200 million (about Shs747b) last year to $2.9 billion.

Kenya, which is trying to secure its borders and stamp out terrorism as the al-Shabaab insurgency rages, spent $1.09 billion on the military. This expenditure accounted for 36.5 per cent of the regions' total of $2.98 billion.
Uganda's spending rose by $62 million, hitting $408.4 million, from $346.8 million the previous year.
Only 10 million US dollars went to the African Union mission in Somalia.

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Gwokto La'Kitgum

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