The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will contribute to expenses to be met in the burial process of the four Uganda Police Force officers killed at the border point in Ntoroko district by Congolese troops.
Appearing on the Kfm Hotseat talkshow yesterday, the Senior Presidential Assistant on Political Affairs Moses Byaruhanga said the Congolese government regretted the killing of the officers and that it would assist in footing some costs related to their burial.
The dead police officers identified as Sergeant Faruk Waiswa, Corporal Biral Opara, and Police Constables Moses Ocen and Bernard Isingoma, were responding to an illegal fishing incident on Lake Albert.
Further, Mr Byaruhanga said security chiefs from the two neighbouring countries would meet under the auspices of the Ngurdoto mechanism, to resolve any outstanding issues between Uganda and the DRC.
By press time it was not possible to get a comment from the Uganda police spokesperson Fred Enanga about the compensation due to the slain officers.
Relations between Uganda and the DRC have intermittently been thorny, and in June last year Congolese officials moved the Vurra customs point barrier about 300 metres into Uganda.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has expressed profound concern over reports of increasing political tensions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) linked to the continuing uncertainty surrounding the country’s electoral process.
In a statement from his spokesperson, the Secretary-General called for the ‘strict respect of the fundamental freedoms and rights enshrined in the Constitution’, urging all parties in the central African nation to exercise restraint and express their views peacefully, including in the context of demonstrations scheduled to take place today.
The Secretary-General called on all Congolese political stakeholders to ‘place the interests of their country above their own by engaging constructively in a meaningful political dialogue aimed at peacefully resolving their differences’, according to the statement.
The UN chief also urged the political stakeholders to extend their full cooperation to the African Union (AU) Facilitator for the National Dialogue in the DRC, Mr Edem Kodjo, and reiterated the full support of the UN for his efforts.
