By Moyiga Nduru
NAIROBI, May 13 1996 (IPS)

Relations between Kenya and Rwanda have been frosty since the former rebel Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF) seized power in Kigali in 1994.

Since then, two Rwandese Charge d’Affaires have been expelled by Kenya. A third envoy is being held in police custody here for an alleged assassination attempt on the life of a Rwandese opposition leader.

The case of Francis Mugabo, an administrative attache in the Rwandese embassy, threatens to end diplomatic relations all together. Two weeks ago, Kenya issued an ultimatum to Rwanda: either waive the immunity of the diplomat or close the embassy.

Rwanda would prefer Mugabo to be deported.

Concerned with the state of affairs, a leading opposition party, the Forum for Restoration of Democracy (FORD-Kenya), has become the first opposition voice to urge the government of President Daniel Moi to let Mugabo go.

“Kenya can only demand that (Mugabo) be recalled as there is no evidence that he committed crimes in Kenya that warrant his continued incarceration,” said a statement signed by FORD-Kenya secretary for international affairs, Ismail Aden Yussuf.

Yussuf criticised the Kenyan government over the ultimatum. “This would not improve the already suspicious and hostile relationship between the two countries,” he said.

He called on foreign minister Kalonzo Musyoka to encourage dialogue if Kenya hopes to influence Rwanda’s policies.

“It is time Kenya’s foreign policy was based on the collective interests of Kenyans and not personal relationships or (to) satisfy the whims of leaders,” he said.

The latest spat between the two countries erupted when Seth Sendashonga, a Hutu politician linked to a move by exiled leaders to form an opposition front to the Kigali government, was wounded in a shooting incident in a Nairobi residential suburb on Feb. 26. His nephew, who accompanied him, was also injured.

Four days latter, Kenya’s attorney general, Amos Wako, issued a statement accusing Mugabo of being one of the suspects.

He said two of the assailants escaped. “But… Mugabo was arrested at the scene, and was found to be in possession of one pistol… together with its silencer and 13 rounds of 9mm ammunition.”

Wako also confirmed that Kenya had asked Kigali to waive Mugabo’s diplomatic immunity to enable criminal investigations to be carried out leading to possible prosecution.

To resolve the crisis, Rwanda suggested that Mugabo should be sent home. But while Kigali awaited a response, things went badly wrong.

“On Monday (April 22) Mugabo was taken away by police from Langata police station to an unknown location,” said Pierre Hakizimana, Rwanda’s Charge d’Affaires.

“Efforts by other Rwandese diplomats to trace Mugabo have been fruitless. Police at Langata wouldn’t tell them his whereabouts… Rwanda embassy diplomats are very worried about their colleague’s fate,” he said.

FORD-Kenya, led by veteran politician Kijana Wamalwa, accuses Nairobi of harbouring Rwanda’s genocide criminals and harassing Kigali’s diplomats on trumped-up charges.

Kenya is home to prominent Rwandese exiles, including Agatha Uwiringiyimana, the wife of late president Juvenal Habyarimana. Uwiringiyimana is on Kigali’s most wanted list of suspects who orchestrated the slaughter of up to one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

She is also rumoured to be behind the rearming of the defeated Hutu army in the refugee camps of eastern Zaire, who are planning to cross back into the tiny Central African country and seize power.

Last year, Moi threatened to arrest investigators assigned to track down suspected Rwandese involved in the 1994 massacres and bring them before an international tribunal in Arusha, Tanzania.

Rwanda reacted angrily to Moi’s statement, and after concerted international pressure, he backed down.

“FORD-Kenya believes in Kenya taking its traditional place in Africa’s diplomatic arena by solving disputes in trouble spots, and not by taking sides,” said Yussuf.

He warned that Nairobi’s hostile stand towards Kigali could discourage foreign investment in Kenya.

Land-locked Rwanda however relies on the Kenyan port of Mombassa for the bulk of its trade.

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