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By Mel Frykberg
Kampala - The Ugandan government has threatened to use military force against the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) following the killing of four Ugandan policemen by suspected soldiers from that country during a bloody border clash on the weekend.
Armed men thought to be soldiers from the DRC shot the Ugandan policemen dead as they patrolled Uganda’s part of Lake Albert.
The policemen were responding to information they received that Congolese nationals were in Ugandan fishing waters illegally.
Uganda’s outgoing State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Okello Oryem, who described the incident as an “abhorrent conduct of Congolese soldiers”, said they have put DRC on notice.
A repeat attack may lead to hot pursuit by Uganda’s armed force to repel such attackers, said Oryem.
“A repeat of these incidents may compel the Uganda authorities to take self-defence measures to protect its citizens,” Oryem said in a press briefing at Foreign Affairs ministry in Kampala City.
International law dictates that in a case of hot pursuit the armed forces of one country can pursue and arrest armed and violent suspects fleeing into a neighbouring country.
After the policemen were shot dead the suspected Congolese soldiers took their bodies, weapons and speedboat.
The bodies were taken to Bunia General Hospital in Eastern DRC.
The incident was one of a number of violent attacks allegedly carried out by Congolese nationals in disputed areas on Lake Albert despite the 2007 Ngurdoto Agreement between the two countries.
The Daily Monitor reports that the aim of the agreement was to resolve such issues in a peaceful manner.
Following the violent clash Kampala summoned DRC’s Chargé d’affaires and gave him a protest note in which it made four major demands including bringing the suspects to justice and compensation for the families of the killed officers.
“Uganda demands the immediate repatriation of the bodies, equipment and all the personal belongings of the victims,” said Oryem.
The Ugandan authorities further demanded “an immediate joint implementation of the agreed to mechanisms under the NGURDOTO Agreement under Article III and the outcomes of the Joint Permanent Commission between the two countries of August 23 to 27, 2014 in Kinshasa, to forestall the reccurrence of similar incidents.”
“The situation on the border is calm and under control at the moment. We are liaising with our Congolese counterparts to verify the facts behind the clash,” said Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) spokesman for Western Uganda Major Ronald Kakurungu.
“There is good cooperation between both sides and at this point in time it appears to be an act carried out by individuals of the Congolese army not deliberate DRC government policy. But the investigation is continuing,” Kakurungu told the African News Agency (ANA).
Recently, 20 armed Congolese soldiers who had crossed into Uganda’s waters were detained by Ugandan fishermen.
“We had to intervene as the situation escalated and eventually the Congolese soldiers were later released after they were cautioned,” said Kakurungu.
Meanwhile, the top United Nations official in the DRC has expressed deep concern about the increasing political tensions in some parts of the Central African country, urging both the majority and opposition sides to reawaken their patriotism.
“The current situation and the dangers weighing upon it need patriotic reawakening both on the part of the majority as well as the opposition, to place the interests of the country above any other consideration,” Maman Sidikou, Special Representative of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a press release at the weekend.
Sidikou is also the head of the UN Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO).
He noted that increasing the number of judiciary proceedings and actions likely to shrink the political space will only exacerbate the tensions and make it even more difficult to hold the political dialogue insistently called for by President Joseph Kabila.
Sidikou urged strict respect for the rule of law and the fundamental freedoms enshrined in the Constitution.
Citing Security Council resolution 2 277, he said that the UN stands resolutely with the African Union and its appointed facilitator, former Togolese Prime Minister Edem Kodjo, to facilitate the launch of the political talks.
The Special Representative further expressed the UN’s readiness to assist an independent nation electoral commission in 2016 organising free and transparent elections to mark a new step forward in the advancement of the democratic process in the DRC.
– African News Agency
Armed men thought to be soldiers from the DRC shot the Ugandan policemen dead as they patrolled Uganda’s part of Lake Albert.
The policemen were responding to information they received that Congolese nationals were in Ugandan fishing waters illegally.
Uganda’s outgoing State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Okello Oryem, who described the incident as an “abhorrent conduct of Congolese soldiers”, said they have put DRC on notice.
A repeat attack may lead to hot pursuit by Uganda’s armed force to repel such attackers, said Oryem.
“A repeat of these incidents may compel the Uganda authorities to take self-defence measures to protect its citizens,” Oryem said in a press briefing at Foreign Affairs ministry in Kampala City.
International law dictates that in a case of hot pursuit the armed forces of one country can pursue and arrest armed and violent suspects fleeing into a neighbouring country.
After the policemen were shot dead the suspected Congolese soldiers took their bodies, weapons and speedboat.
The bodies were taken to Bunia General Hospital in Eastern DRC.
The incident was one of a number of violent attacks allegedly carried out by Congolese nationals in disputed areas on Lake Albert despite the 2007 Ngurdoto Agreement between the two countries.
The Daily Monitor reports that the aim of the agreement was to resolve such issues in a peaceful manner.
Following the violent clash Kampala summoned DRC’s Chargé d’affaires and gave him a protest note in which it made four major demands including bringing the suspects to justice and compensation for the families of the killed officers.
“Uganda demands the immediate repatriation of the bodies, equipment and all the personal belongings of the victims,” said Oryem.
The Ugandan authorities further demanded “an immediate joint implementation of the agreed to mechanisms under the NGURDOTO Agreement under Article III and the outcomes of the Joint Permanent Commission between the two countries of August 23 to 27, 2014 in Kinshasa, to forestall the reccurrence of similar incidents.”
“The situation on the border is calm and under control at the moment. We are liaising with our Congolese counterparts to verify the facts behind the clash,” said Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) spokesman for Western Uganda Major Ronald Kakurungu.
“There is good cooperation between both sides and at this point in time it appears to be an act carried out by individuals of the Congolese army not deliberate DRC government policy. But the investigation is continuing,” Kakurungu told the African News Agency (ANA).
Recently, 20 armed Congolese soldiers who had crossed into Uganda’s waters were detained by Ugandan fishermen.
“We had to intervene as the situation escalated and eventually the Congolese soldiers were later released after they were cautioned,” said Kakurungu.
Meanwhile, the top United Nations official in the DRC has expressed deep concern about the increasing political tensions in some parts of the Central African country, urging both the majority and opposition sides to reawaken their patriotism.
“The current situation and the dangers weighing upon it need patriotic reawakening both on the part of the majority as well as the opposition, to place the interests of the country above any other consideration,” Maman Sidikou, Special Representative of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a press release at the weekend.
Sidikou is also the head of the UN Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO).
He noted that increasing the number of judiciary proceedings and actions likely to shrink the political space will only exacerbate the tensions and make it even more difficult to hold the political dialogue insistently called for by President Joseph Kabila.
Sidikou urged strict respect for the rule of law and the fundamental freedoms enshrined in the Constitution.
Citing Security Council resolution 2 277, he said that the UN stands resolutely with the African Union and its appointed facilitator, former Togolese Prime Minister Edem Kodjo, to facilitate the launch of the political talks.
The Special Representative further expressed the UN’s readiness to assist an independent nation electoral commission in 2016 organising free and transparent elections to mark a new step forward in the advancement of the democratic process in the DRC.
– African News Agency
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