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MPs quiz Gen Odongo on Banyarwanda claims
Minister of Internal Affairs, Gen Jeje Odongo. FILE PHOTO
What you need to know:
- Blocked. There are claims that Nira officials have stopped registering people bearing Kinyarwanda names for IDs.
- Before Gen Odongo offered his response, Col Mwesigye, a former Bush War fighter, tasked Gen Odongo to come clear on the matter.
Kampala. MPs on the Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs yesterday tasked the Minister of Internal Affairs, Gen Jeje Odongo, to explain alleged irregular and corrupt dealings by officials at the National Identification and Registration Authority (Nira). The officials are allegedly barring bona fide Ugandan citizens bearing Kinyarwanda names from registering for National Identity Cards.
The Nyabushozi County MP, Col Fred Mwesigye, and Mityana Municipality MP Francis Zaake pressed the minister to explain why Nira has stopped registering people perceived to be of Rwandan origin.
The matter was sparked by Mr Zaake, who also asked Gen Odongo to make a public pronouncement on alleged illegal fees charged by Nira.
“They are carrying out some kind of corruption from new entrants who need National IDs. They are asking for money and this should be investigated,” Mr Zaake said.
His concerns were triggered by the Ruhinda County MP, Capt Donozio Kahonda, who raised the issue about the Banyarwanda.
“There is a big concern about officers of Nira not registering individuals whose names are similar to the ones from Rwanda,” Capt Kahonda said.
He said in Kigango Sub-county, Kyegegwa District, people with names such as Nsabimaana and Nzeyimaana have been barred from registering for national IDs.
Before Gen Odongo offered his response, Col Mwesigye, a former Bush War fighter, tasked Gen Odongo to come clear on the matter.
“This question of the Banyarwanda, the government should come out clearly because we know Kisoro was cut and added to Uganda, and those are Ugandans, without doubt,” he said.
Kisoro is a Ugandan district in southwestern region bordering Rwanda and it is inhabited by Kinyarwanda-speaking Ugandans known as Bafumbira, named after Bufumbira, their ancestral area.
The 1995 Constitution acknowledges ‘Banyarwanda’ as one of the tribes of Uganda.
Gen Odongo, in his response, said the government is at a crossroads since Nira officials rely on local leadership (Local Councils I and II).
“Unfortunately,” Gen Odongo said, “some local leaders are compromised, given that their ancestral background is traced to Rwanda.”
He cited Kyangwali in Hoima District, where a sub-county chairman is of Rwandan origin and that he is one of those escalating the infiltration of fellow Rwandans.
“He has bought two square miles of land and is telling Banyarwanda, ‘come, come, there is free land…,” Gen Odongo said.
Gen Odongo told the committee that he would investigate the matter and give a clearer response today.
Early in March, Rwanda closed its border with Uganda at Katuna, claiming ongoing construction works but at the same time accused the Uganda government at persecuting Rwandan nationals and detaining them in unknown places. This claim was refuted by the Uganda government.
