This archive report was first published on 23 August 2019.
On August 23, 2019, Uganda's communications regulator took a move that cast a shadow over a recently signed pact to end tensions between the two countries. The regulator blocked online access to Rwanda's main state-owned newspaper, New Times, citing national security concerns.
The decision was made by Uganda's communications regulator, which asked all internet service providers to block access to the New Times website in the country. According to Godfrey Mutabazi, the regulator's executive director, the newspaper had been identified by a government agency in charge of internal security as 'a hostile platform that is likely to cause insecurity in this country.'
The move came just two days after the presidents of Rwanda and Uganda signed a deal in the Angolan capital, agreeing to respect each other's sovereignty, refrain from actions that destabilize the other's territory, and resume 'as soon as possible' cross-border activities.
The neighbours have a long-running rivalry that led to conflict in the past, but tensions boiled over in February when Rwanda closed their main border crossing. The border was briefly re-opened to cargo trucks in June but then closed again. Rwandans are banned from traveling to Uganda, which has accused Rwanda of effectively imposing a trade embargo.
Uganda's move illustrated that Wednesday's pact would not yield a quick end to the long-running rivalry between the two countries, said Nicholas Sengoba, a columnist at Uganda's Daily Monitor newspaper. 'That signing was for the eye...as long as the suspicions, the accusations, the personal animosities are not yet resolved the rest is just playing the gallery,' said Sengoba.
