False statement attributed to Paul Kagame on his Ugandan counterpart

“No Ugandan has a right to question president Museven how or when to resign other than God.Paul kagame finally (sic),” begins the post shared on Facebook on January 11, 2021.

The post alleges that Kagame expressed his support for Museveni, and told Ugandans to leave the country if they were not satisfied with their government. 

“Am sure Uganda has an airport if u feel offended pack and go (sic),” reads the comment attributed to Kagame.

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Screenshot of misleading Facebook post, taken on January 18, 2021

The post also describes the long-lasting relationship between the two African leaders, “dating back to 1972” when they allegedly met in an “army training session”. 

AFP Fact Check ran multiple keyword searches using phrases from the misleading Facebook post. However, there is no public trace of Kagame making this statement on major news outlets, or in any communications from Kigali. Additionally, the relationship between the presidents has worsened in recent years, which makes it unlikely that Kagame would offer his support. 

Using social media monitoring tool CrowdTangle, AFP Fact Check found that this post has been circulating online at least since February 2018. 

No trace of this statement

The latest press release available on the Rwandan government website was issued on January 8, 2021 and refutes allegations from the UN Group of Experts that Rwanda sent troops into the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

A search of the name “Museveni” on the government’s website only revealed two results, which were unrelated to the claims made by the misleading Facebook post. 

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Screenshot of search results of Rwandan government website, taken on January 20, 2021

The first result discussed the Regional Leaders Summit of Heads of State held via video-conference on October, 7, 2020. This conference, hosted by President Félix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo, gathered Presidents João Lourenço of Angola, Museveni of Uganda, and Kagame of Rwanda. 

The second result concerned the virtual EAC Consultative Meeting, chaired by Kagame, that discussed the regional response to Covid-19 with the Heads of State of Uganda, Kenya and South Sudan on May, 12, 2020. 

The Rwandan embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia is yet to reply to a request for comment from AFP Fact Check. 

Worsening relations

Kagame and Museveni were once close allies who backed each other’s rise to power. But the relationship worsened in recent years and turned openly hostile when Kigali abruptly closed its border in February 2019. Both leaders traded accusations of “espionage, political assassinations and meddling in each other's backyards”, as AFP reported. 

The standoff escalated dramatically in March 2019 when Rwanda publicly accused Uganda of abducting its citizens and supporting rebels bent on overthrowing the government. Eight Ugandan security officers appeared in a military court over the allegations and were charged with “abducting and repatriating Rwandan asylum seekers from Uganda without authorisation”. 

In August 2019, both leaders agreed to sign a pact to ease the months-long tensions between both countries. 

AFP Fact Check has debunked several other misleading claims about the Ugandan election, including old images of Ugandan soldiers from 2014 or images from the 2016 elections in the East African nation. Another one debunked an image of Ugandan TV journalist Isaac Kugonza lying wounded in 2015, rather than during the recent protests.