Call for calm in Kisangani

Both Uganda and Rwanda say they have no interest in fomenting a crisis that may result in their troops clashing in the DRC town of Kisangani, eight months after a fierce battle there that led to the deaths of hundreds of troops and civilians. “We have called on the Ugandans to manage their side,” Major Emmanuel Ndahiro, spokesman for the acting Rwandan president and defence minister Paul Kagame told IRIN on Wednesday. His comments follow a statement issued on Sunday by the Rwanda-backed rebel RCD- Goma accusing Uganda of building up troops in Kisangani “in a manner reminiscent of what preceded the fighting of August 1999” between Ugandan and Rwandan forces.

“We are of the view that both the Ugandan army commander and the Rwandan chief of staff should travel to Kisangani and take charge of the situation, because they did a lot to improve the situation after last year’s clashes,” Ndahiro said. “What is worrying us is that the new Ugandan commanders in Kisangani, within a few days of taking charge, are trying to reverse what was agreed upon at a high level - they have set up more road blocks, increased troop deployment in city suburbs and suspended their involvement in joint patrols and meetings.” The Ugandan army recently reshuffled its top commanders in DRC.

Uganda denied there was any tension in Kisangani. “There is nothing that can be described as tension in Kisangani, we are in regular contact with our people on the ground and life is going on normally,” Lieutenant-Colonel Noble Mayombo, the deputy head of Ugandan military intelligence told IRIN. “As far as the Uganda People’s Defence Force is concerned there is no cause for alarm. If a meeting is to take place with our colleagues from Rwanda and RCD-Goma, it should be aimed at assuring them that we have no intention of fighting them in Kisangani or anywhere else.”