Gen Muhoozi, the son of Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and Senior Presidential Advisor on Special Operations has been in Rwanda since Sunday 23rd April 2023 where he came to celebrate his 49th birthday.
He was received at Urugwiro Village following an event hosted by President Kagame and First Lady Jeannette Kagame in the evening of 24th April in honour of Gen Muhoozi’s 49th birthday.
The ceremony is held at a time when Rwanda and Uganda are enjoying cordial relations following years of tensions.
Both countries turned a new page for relations following visits of Gen Muhoozi at the beginning of 2022.
Relations had worsened since 2017 as Rwanda accused the neighbouring country of illegal detention of Rwandans and working with subversive groups intending to threaten its security while Uganda accused Rwanda of sending spies to the country.
Following the mediation of Gen Muhoozi, Rwandans illegally incarcerated in Uganda were released followed by the reopening of borders.
Speaking at the celebration, Kagame thanked Gen Muhoozi for his great efforts to mend relations between Rwanda and Uganda that had deteriorated since 2017.
“Thank you for being that bridge we used to cross from one side to another,” he noted.
Gen Muhoozi said that their interactions with Kagame went from being a president and army officer to ‘a personal friend’.
“The mark of this friendship was the cows that he gave me and I take this very seriously. Your Excellency, I would like to report that the cows are doing well and have reproduced. You gave me ten cows, now I have 17 from the ones you gave me. From that point on, really we became friends,” he disclosed.
The delegation that came with Gen Muhoozi includes Norbert Mao, the Ugandan Minister of Justice, Maj Gen (Rtd) Jim Muhwezi, the Interior Minister, and Andrew Mwenda, the Spokesperson of MK Movement among others.
Recently in March 2023, Rwanda and Uganda signed four memoranda of understanding to facilitate cooperation in different fields.
The cooperation deals were signed by Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Vincent Biruta and his Ugandan counterpart Jeje Odongo in Rwanda’s capital city Kigali, during a meeting of the 11th Joint Permanent Commission between Rwanda and Uganda.
The agreements are in the fields of justice and constitutionalism, mutual legal assistance, diplomatic and political consultations, and migration matters, according to the Rwandan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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