By Frank Kamuntu
A 37-year-old pregnant Rwandan national died early this week in Kisoro district under unclear circumstances as she sneaked in Uganda to buy food.
On Thursday, Ugandan Security officials handed the over the body to Rwandan officials.
Elly Maate, the Kigezi region police spokesperson, identified the deceased as Elizabeth Mukarugwiza, a resident of Musanza District.
He said she died at 10:00Am about 300 metres away from the international boundary with Rwanda.
However, the cause of death is not yet clear, although it is alleged that at the time of her demise, the pregnant woman was among a group of people who were running away from Rwandan security officials that were trying to block them from crossing into Uganda at Cyanika border post.
The Kisoro Resident District Commissioner (RDC) Peter Mugisha, who is also the head of security operations in the district, led the Ugandan security officials who handed over the body to Rwandan security officials at Kyanika border post.
Mugisha told the media that
“We have handed over the postmortem report which indicated that the deceased died of internal bleeding and high blood pressure.”
He also dismissed as false allegations that the deceased was shot by Rwandan officials.
The survivors told traders at Kyanika border town that they had crossed over to buy food and other household items while others were proceeding to a weekly market in Kisoro.
“A 50-year old woman told us that they were a group of about two boys and two women. When they tried to cross the border line, the Rwandan security officials tried to block them but they ran faster and crossed onto the Ugandan land. The Rwandan security officials chased them until the pregnant woman fell down and collapsed and died instantly,” Godfrey Barora, the chairperson of the traders at Kyanika border town on Ugandan side, He said the Rwandan security officials returned after realising that the accused were already on Ugandan land.
On February 27, the Rwandan government closed its borders with Uganda at Kyanika in Kisoro and Katuna in Kabale District and stopped their nationals from entering Uganda.
Two weeks after the closure of the borders, Rwandan security officials destroyed all the temporary bridges on the border line with Uganda in Kabale in a measure to stop Rwandan nationals that were using them to cross into Uganda.
