Officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have been stopped from discussing or making public statements on the relationship between Uganda and Rwanda to avoid derailing the ongoing process to patch the strained relations between the two countries.
The State Minister for International Affairs, Mr Okello Oryem told MPs on the Parliamentary Committee of Foreign Affairs that staff members at the ministry have been restricted from commenting on the matter, just to be on a safe side for fear of making ‘provocative statements’ that could jeopardize the healing process.
“I have been cautioned not to discuss the matter here or with anybody else, we are still in the process and I wouldn’t want to discuss those issues here. We have also stopped our staff from commenting on that subject matter as this may derail the whole process,” Mr Oryem said.
Mr Oryem, with a delegation of senior officials from the ministry were presenting their budget framework paper for the financial year 2020/21.
Mr Oryem’s said that the ministry has been tight-lipped on the case where a Ugandan software developer who went missing in Kigali, Rwanda, in December last year.
Peter Ivan Egesa, 32, reportedly went missing at the beginning of last month. A search by his relatives and employers has hit a dead end.
President Museveni has in the past said that there is no need for discussing the Uganda-Rwanda matters in the media.