|
Uganda denies Odinga claims
14/01/2008 21:08 - (SA)
Kampala - Kampala on Monday denied deploying troops to western Kenya, following accusations by Kenya's opposition that President Mwai Kibaki's government had requested security assistance from neighbouring Uganda.
"There is absolutely no truth in that allegation," Ugandan Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa said. "We have not deployed any member of the UPDF or the security forces in Kenya at all."
Ugandan army spokesperson Captain Paddy Ankunda also dismissed the allegations.
"We don't have soldiers in Kenya, and we don't plan to send any troops," he said. "We cannot help Kenya militarily, and we are not planning anything."
On Sunday, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) of Kenya opposition leader Raila Odinga alleged that Uganda had sent troops across the border ahead of mass rallies planned for later this week.
"There is evidence that the Ugandan troops are in Kenya with the consent and collusion of Kibaki's government," ODM said in a statement.
"In the last week there has been a heavy build-up of Ugandan troops along the border. In the absence of a similar build-up of Kenyan troops, our people have justification to worry."
The Kenyan opposition party has called three days of rallies starting on Wednesday to protest Kibaki's re-election, charging that the incumbent rigged his way to a second five-year term.
A Ugandan opposition MP on Monday supported ODM's claims, charging that Ugandan troops had been flown to the western opposition strongholds of Eldoret or Kisumu, the two towns hardest hit by post-electoral violence.
"Ugandan anti-riot police were training last week in Masindi," in eastern Uganda, MP Morris Latigo said.
"There has been a mysterious influx of troops into the north," said James Otto, director of Human Rights Focus, a Ugandan NGO based in Gulu, near the border.
Ugandan Presidenty Yoweri Museveni was among the first heads of state to congratulate Kibaki on his re-election, despite international concern over flaws in the tallying process.
- AFP
|
News
