Rwanda has deported three Ugandan nationals who were arrested for allegedly smuggling sorghum.
This follows the release of over 13 Rwandan prisoners to the Rwanda government on Tuesday afternoon by the Uganda government.
They are Marvelous Kukundakwe, Gordon Tugumisirize, and Zabulon Komunda, all residents of Rubaya Sub County in Kabale district.
The trio was trading sorghum on January 16th, 2020 at Kivuye Market in Bukumbi, Burera District when Rwandan security ambushed and imprisoned them.
At the time of their arrest, they were in possession of 50 kilograms,34 and 31 kilograms each respectively totaling to 115kgs of sorghum that was also impounded in the process.
One of the deported prisoners Kukundankwe narrates that upon their arrest, they were taken to Bungwe prison where they spent two days before they were transferred to another prison at Burera district headquarters.
She claims they appeared in court and were first sentenced to two years imprisonment because Rwandan nationals are also imprisoned in Uganda under harsh conditions but the punishment was later reduced to 30 days after their plea for mercy.
They say they have been serving their 30-day sentence a Mporogoma prison in Burera district under brutal conditions including going days without food, being severely beaten by Rwandan security guys and falling sick without treatment until Monday when they were dumped at the Chanika border for deportation.
They also claim to have leftover 30 Ugandans still suffering at Mporogoma prison.
This incident comes on the heels of a meeting scheduled for Friday at Katuna border between president Yoweri Museveni and his Rwanda counterpart, Paul Kagame to end border impasse.
The meeting is part of the resolutions of the quadripartite summit held in Luanda, Angola on February 2, 2020. The summit was mediated by João Lourenço, the President of Angola and his DRC counterpart, Felix Tshisekedi.
